I Am Negima! ?, AND SO CAN YOU! Act I
by The Ansem Man
Summary: Act 1: Scheme! ?. The chupacabra conspiracy is simply far too big for one fandom. Negima! ?/Pani Poni Dash with other touches. Redone in 2008, sequel is Nightmare! ?, ship NegixBecky and everyone's favorite KonoSetsu.
1. Prologue: Legend Has It

**I am Negima!?, and So Can You!**

**Prologue: Legend Has It**

(Disclaimer: I bear no ownership of Negima, PPD, or anything that isn't this tale's main antagonist. Stand with me as I reintroduce this tale of chaotic crossover intrigue!)

Legends make up a good portion of human storytelling, and this story, as crazy and lunatic as it is, is no exception. Legends often surround things that people see, but cannot explain or grasp. Legends are how many folk tales, stories, and adventures are born. You could say legends are the stuff that stories are made of, and by now you are probably sick of me spamming that word. But bear with me, that word holds meaning here in the exposition.

You see, there's a prestigious academy that lies somewhere in the heart of Japan. And by prestigious I don't mean difficult, I mean rich. There's all sorts of culture, science, and discoveries that happen there, but that's not what matters. Mahora is rich in... you guessed it, _legends_. Legends say that the World Tree was born on this very grounds eons ago, and the headmaster of the school had been convinced through a charm or spell of sorts to build Mahora there. There's a legend about a chupacabra who prowls the grounds. There's even legends that a rare item, only known as the Star Crystal, was created here. But we don't know that for sure.

But maybe there's a plausible explanation for all this. Something linking all those legends and giving them life.

We'll call that magic.

Now now, hold your angry mob tendencies. You in the back, _stop laughing_, wait until the story actually begins, please. As I was saying, magic is, unknown to the general public, rampant in parts of this school. Thanks to something, or _someone_, Mahora Academy is a weirdness magnet for all sorts of strange, unexplained things. The tale I'm about to tell will weave these things together, and show you how they are all connected. The key to this, perhaps, lays within yet another legend. A legend, perhaps more dangerous than any other, so dangerous that even SHAFT or Ken Akamatsu dare not say a word of it.

I speak of the legend of the Bedeviled Swan.

Got you with Serious Business(tm), yet?

* * *

It was here that felt perfect; it was a nice place to ease his mental turmoil.

Slowly, a figure walked into the lake, to bathe himself in both its cold depths and the shining moon above. "Look at the mess I got myself into..." he whispered his thoughts to the outside world. "Perhaps old habits die hard." The figure came to a stop, it only made sense that those swelling emotions within him called for an epic monologue! Raising his right hand and curling his fingers like a claw, he bellowed, "But I can't stay still, knowing that someone is going to paint a portrait of ruin without MY consent!"

One could hear the savage grin growing on his face. "Here I am, under the circle of the moon, talking of a harmony of dissonance like a true lunatic should! I sing my own aria of sorrow for those who dare become more evil than I... it truly feels nice to become a card-carrying villain once again! Perhaps I should eclipse this world under a perfect symphony of the night, or should I issue in a dawn of sorrow and darkness?! But alas..." The fervor of his voice stopped, replaced with a sad, less emotional sanity and softness. "What horrible night to have a curse... of conscience."

Conviction returned to his voice, although nowhere near as strong as it was before. "I will wait here. By the dawn, the darkness shall decide what path my heart takes," the shadow, as a last test to check the evil in his heart, let a ringing laugh of evil echo in the valley that night.

* * *

"Have you heard?"

"About what?"

"Shortly before the Star Crystal was stolen, a swan appeared before the guards."

"A... swan? What's the big deal?"

"You Japanese don't see swans that much, do you?"

"Can't say we have."

"In any case, the swan showed up right after the guards laughed off some girl. Next thing we know, the Star Crystal's gone."

"Good god, they're blaming their woeful incompetence on a swan?!"

"Perhaps you didn't notice. They weren't incompetent until that swan showed its face. It looks like this swan was a bad omen."

"Shouldn't we tell that to the dean of that school?"

"Our agents are already on that, actually. Unfortunately too much involvement from our end means that the operation could go south... incredibly quickly."

"True... So what's the best thing to do?"

"We wait... we wait and hope the guys at Mahora are strong enough to take whatever that is on."

* * *

And on that note of darkness, let our story begin as we move into Act 1 of this strange So—err I mean this tale. Remember kids, I am Negima!?, and SO CAN YOU!


	2. Who Wrote This Scheme? By Becky

**Act I: Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Chapter 1: "WHO WROTE THIS SCHEME!?" by Becky**

Our story begins not in the halls of Mahora Academy, but somewhere on the other side of Tokyo: The Peach Moon Academy. Or at least, the apartment of one of their teachers.

This was the residence of a Rebecca Miyamoto, a child genius and M.I.T graduate at the tender age of 11 (Sorry guys, no relation to Shigeru). The young blond-haired, blue-eyed lass taught mathematics and headed class 1-C at Peach Moon, but now, an idle Friday morning, she was merely getting dressed and preparing for breakfast.

Of course, that's when she got a phone call.

"Becky-chan!" Her elder sister called. "Phone for you!"

"Fine, I'll get it!" She dashed back into her room and picked up the phone there. "Hello?" She answered. "Professor? I'm okay… YOU WHAT?! B-b-b-but… why THERE?... There's ALREADY AN ESCORT?!" The blonde furtively looked outside the window to see a taxi waiting down below. Man, the Professor was FAST. However, now came the insane rush to pack…

"Oh Becky?" Her older sister called in. "I got a call from the professor earlier, your bags are already packed!"

Things seemed to fall into place too perfectly and _far_ too quickly... almost like this was a story! Becky knew at that instant she was being set up for _something_. But what that was didn't matter—might as well take it in stride, huh?

"Mesousa! Let's GO!" Becky shouted back into the room.

The small 'tap, tap' of feet could be heard as the pathetic rabbit stepped wearily into view. The sobbing rabbit, as his name implied, already had a river of tears streaming down his face. "Wait... where are we going?" he asked in his soft, high-pitched voice. "Is there any point?"

"We have no time for that, let's GO!" She grabbed the miserable creature by the ears and pushed her bags out of the door, waving a quick goodbye to her sister while she was at it. Who knew what kind of trouble could await our heroine...?

* * *

Meanwhile, at the land known to us as Mahora, intrepid child genius Negi Springfield was having a seemingly unrelated problem.

"It's that time of year again," Headmaster Konoe had said in a slightly serious voice. Both he and Negi were seated in the Headmaster's office, the rising sun beginning to shine much more strongly through the windows. The old man was stroking his long, white beard, giving Negi a steady gaze.

"W-what time of year?" Negi asked. Judging by the Headmaster's rather formal tone, it had to be important… right?

"End of term exams, of course," he answered sagely. A small grin crossed his face. "What, you were expecting something magic related?"

That was a question Negi probably couldn't answer. He didn't bother to, rather he got down to business. "So I need to prepare my students for this exam?" He queried in his usual polite voice.

"Heh, Negi-kun. You can only do so much as their teacher. Let me show you something," Negi wasn't sure he was liking the deviousness creeping into the old man's voice. In any case, the man pulled out a simple chart, showing some test scores. Negi recognized his students' names immediately.

He also saw that the scores weren't good. "EEEHHH!? B-b-b-but they do so well on my tests…"

"Look closer, Negi-kun. Those aren't scores from English." Konoe's eyes continued to twinkle mischievously.

"Huh…" Negi indeed looked closer. Those were math scores. And unfortunately, as bright as he was, math was not a subject he was good at teaching. "So, they're having difficulty in their math studies… even Lingshen-san is barely pushing top-tier. Who teaches math?"

"Nitta-sensei," Konoe coolly answered.

That name brought chills to Negi's spine. What was even worse was the fact that he had only heard the name before. Asuna had griped about a "Nitta-sensei" a couple of times after class, and Yuuna-san also complained that "Nitta-sensei" was the devil incarnate, and Setsuna-san mentioned something about a Sakurazaki ritual that involved surviving some sort of test from a "Nitta-sensei", and well… you get the point. So it was no surprise when Negi nearly yelled, "Nitta-sensei?! The rumored madman of math?"

"You should hush or he'll hear you, mya," A white puffball with cat ears and an adorable face landed on Negi's left shoulder, bouncing to an invisible rhythm. What kind of rhythm, we may never know.

"His punishments might be harsher than ours—in a good way," A green… thing that supposed to be a frog with a necktie stood on Negi's right shoulder.

"Shichimi-san! Motsu-san!" Negi said their names, his voice dropping.

"Nitta-sensei seems to have a death grip on your class's passing grades, mya!" Shichimi pointed out.

"I know I have nothing to do with their math studies, but how can I call myself a teacher when my students can't pass their math tests?" Negi began to panic.

"You truly are wise and noble of heart to concern yourself, Negi-kun," the dean smiled softly, though you could barely tell with his thick beard. "This isn't entirely out of your hands, yet. You just need… a little help."

"Help?" Negi blinked, unsure of what the man could mean.

"On its way, as a matter of fact. Negi-kun, slide about three feet to my left please," Konoe added this last sentence almost like an afterthought, but Negi did as he was told, although the confusion in his face was apparent. He noticed the dean was now even with him once more. "A math teacher with considerable talent and probably much more likely to get along with your students. She's probably even someone you can easily relate to, hee hee hee hee hee," Negi knew for sure he was being set up for SOMETHING at this point, but considering the person setting him up wasn't out to harm him, what was the worst the man could do?

He probably shouldn't have asked that question in his head. Way to jinx it, Negi Springfield.

Within five seconds, a taxi cab crashed through the large, stained glass window, coming into a crash landing where Negi and the dean had sat moments before. Negi stared in open-mouthed shock, but the dean only raised a bushy eyebrow. It was quite absurd for a car to sail into the dean's office, but at least there were no casualties—except maybe Motsu, who was frog paste and bad luck anyways, so who cared about him? Most people think he's the most annoying creature in the universe.

Both faculty sat in stupefied silence, that was until the door began to open—and fell apart before it could even swing out. "Oh dear... again?" a voice mumbled, somewhat uncaring. A girl with blond hair stepped out, dressed in a rather cute outfit and holding a small handbag. She surveyed the mess, mumbling something about it not being the first time and dusted herself off. "The cops are too reckless around here..." About this time the dean stood up, a much broader smile on his face.

"Well then! Negi Springfield-kun, let me introduce you to Rebecca Miyamoto, your new assistant teacher and mathematical genius of the Peach Moon Institute." Konoe introduced the girl with a grand, sweeping bow. Too bad at the bottom of said bow, his back gave out. "My back!"

Becky stared for a moment, something trying to click in her head. She suddenly exclaimed, "Jiji-san has relatives?"

* * *

Negi wasn't quite sure of what to make of this fellow child teacher, Rebecca Miyamoto. She was only a year older than he was, which was something he hadn't seen in a while, to say the least. Almost everyone he regularly interacted with in Mahora was a good deal older than he was. She also seemed so nonchalant about everything, answering all his thanks with a "No big deal" or "whatever."

Negi, however, wasn't finished yet. Attempting to be amiable again, the boy began, "Miyamoto-san, about my class..."

"Don't worry about it," Becky waved him off. "I've handled wild classes before. What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

"Arrrggghhh," Asuna Kagurazaka sunk into her seat, the bells in her hair sounding her defeat. Most of the class was in a heated discussion about today's math test, or should we say math torture. Algebra could truly be a bitch when the man teaching it was a true bastard. And the redhead wasn't taking the punishment well at all. "All I see are numbers. Millions and millions of _numbers_. Damn you, Nitta-sensei..." A small river of tears flowed from her bloodshot eyes.

"Don't worry, Asuna," Konoka patted her friend's back. "I'm sure there will be plenty of fast food restaurants we can work at if we flunk out." That didn't seem to help Asuna's spirits. The red-haired girl only groaned again. "Besides," Konoka continued. "Negi-sensei said that he'd find some way to help us out with an extra math review. Something about a new assistant."

Asuna felt a great ray of hope! "Really?!" she asked perking up. "Who is it?"

The door suddenly swung open, and silence fell upon the class like a slowly falling leaf. The small 'tap tap' of feet could be heard as a puny white rabbit entered the room. As if he forgot something, he flinched for a bit before walking back. A moment later, the tiny creature returned, inching along a simple stepladder.

That shining light of hope at the end of Asuna's tunnel? Turns out it was only the headlamp of an oncoming train.

"We're screwed," Asuna's head collided with her desk, feeling that train flatten her mental spirit. In a tired voice, she muttered, "Konoka, wake me up when Armageddon comes... we might actually find a job then..."

But this was only the opening act. The REAL showcase had yet to begin.

Shortly after everyone reached the wrong conclusion of that tiny creature being their new teacher, someone else walked in. The girl was dressed in a lab coat, which strangely shielded her rather cute blouse and skirt. Asuna stopped wallowing in misery long enough to see this new entry to the classroom. She was heavily reminded of a very cute Evangeline... this fact alone disturbed her deeply.

Becky looked at the class. There were a whooping twenty-nine of them, plus two empty seats that would likely house more. She was somewhat intimidated, but considering that she had a class this side back at home... Swallowing all fear, she shyly introduced herself. "Hello... I am Rebecca Miyamoto, and I am the new math assistant for your class."

There was silence for about five seconds before most of the class erupted in excitement. Several cries of "How cute!" or "ANOTHER child teacher?!" echoed throughout the room.

Becky couldn't believe her eyes OR her ears. It was like back in the first day of school at Peach Moon, except now it consisted entirely of female neanderthals. How did that boy even deal with this kind of mess? Considering his meager attitude, he was probably screwed the moment they started acting like this. The fact that she wasn't faring any better wasn't important, of course.

"Did you come from Whales too!?" One girl in the back exclaimed, a girl with blond hair done in some spiky fashion. She was obviously a cheerleader by her peppy voice, and probably not bright either.

"Where did you graduate?" Another girl asked.

"Are you going to go out with Negi?!"

The girl asking that question failed to realize the terrible impact until it was too late. By now, the whole class was in an uproar, talking about the fate of their new assistant teacher and the likelihood of an affair with their equally young English teacher.

Ayaka quickly moved to the rescue. "Silence!" She slammed the desk for emphasis. Startling most of the class silent. "It is entirely unfair to assume that this young girl would start an affair with Negi-sensei!"

"That's because she's competition!" Asuna retorted.

"_What did you just say_?!"

Mission Failed. Ayaka lost her cool and immediately ran up to have a face-stretching contest with an angry Asuna.

Becky twitched. Her anger, or should we say urge to kill, was rising. Finally the pot of her eternal rage boiled over, and, snapping the chalk in her hand, she screamed, "WILL YOU IRRITATING INSECTS SHUT UP?!"

This drew the class into a shocked silence. Becky continued. "Just because I'm the same age as your snotty teacher doesn't mean I'm going out with him! Wait, that's not even right! I'm ONE YEAR OLDER!" This was met with gasps as well. "I'm here to teach you math so you can pass the tests of some old lunatic!" There were gasps at this as well, although these were more of admiration. However, Becky had yet to use her most devastating blow. "Fine, you can ask questions, but use your heads! And don't ask so many at once... you lower lifeforms!"

To top everything off, Becky gave them the finger.

This absolutely shocking act lay the class into a stunned silence. Becky was too busy grinning at her self victory over those so called "lower lifeforms" to notice that they weren't silent just from her. As if they had been there all along, six figures had appeared on the scene with the stealth of ninjas. 3-A's brains took a moment to register their new additions as one stepped forward to repeat history. Thusly, Becky was in for a shock when somebody pounded her head.

"You STILL have no respect for your students," a familiar voice reprimanded. "Just because they're irritating doesn't mean you can lash out at them."

Becky opened one teary eye to look at her punisher, and found herself in even more shock. Rei Tachibana had reprimanded her teacher just like she did at the first day of school back at home.

"R-R-Rei?!" Considering the fact that her student lived some miles away and had no idea of her new assignment, one had to wonder just how she showed up. "W-what are you doing here?!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," One gloomy Chisame muttered in the back.

The tall Chinese girl with green hair only smirked. "You seem to underestimate us, tiny teacher."

"You make me sad, Becky!" A girl popped up between the dark Mana and Misa, surprising the latter and almost startling the former. She had blue hair that fell to her shoulders, with a single strand standing tall above her head. Himeko Katagiri, eyes bright with tearful happiness, continued, "You left without so much as a warning! You can't join a new school without us! Maho!"

"Maho?" The cheerleaders tilted their heads in unified confusion.

"So we decided to follow you!" A brunette girl, appeared between Makie and Fuuka. Despite her upcoming protests to the contrary, plain would be the best way to describe her. Had Kurumi Momose heard our description she'd probably sulk.

"B-b-but it doesn't make sense! How'd you even get here!?" Becky pointed at her entourage, eyes watery as if she were about to cry. Somebody in the back began to whistle in a suspiciously innocent manner, but before Becky could make the connection, an interruption kicked in.

"Plot device," a voice answered coolly. Konoka turned to her left to see that she was staring at her spiritual double, except more strange. This girl, only known as Ichijou-san, was the one who answered Becky's question. "Quite literally," the class representative added, holding out some small device that resembled a miniature satellite. Konoka stared at the girl next to her, imitating the same half-closed, blank stare.

_That woman is most definitely untrustworthy_, Setsuna leered at this strange woman next to Konoka, her fingers on the hilt of her blade. _To protect ojou-sama, I may need a clean shot at her at all times..._

"It was the plot device of the year!" A pale-blue-haired girl exclaimed in a soft voice, emerging between Yue and Chisame's usual seats. Suzuki Sayaka, known to her friends as "Rokugou"(or Number Six for those who want a direct translation), greeted her teacher (and her new seat partners) with a smile.

"More weirdos showed up!" Chisame jumped up in surprise and horror. Rokugou frowned at this statement and threatened to cry.

"Watch who you call weirdos, woman!" A girl with sharp half-moon glasses and a shiny forehead bellowed, pointing towards Chisame angrily. "We've seen a hell of a lot worse than you." Miyako Uehara's forehead shone ominously, daring the internet-idol-in-disguise to challenge her.

"Even MORE weirdos showed up!" Chisame complained.

"It's not like you to suddenly become Captain Obvious..." Yue quietly added, taking a sip of some strange concoction.

"Chisame-san's got a point," Asuna added. "It's kinda strange how you guys showed up out of nowhere. You guys know this rude pipsqueak up front?"

"They're not listening..." Miyako rubbed her temple in annoyance.

Indeed, nobody was _listening_. I mean, if six weirdos claiming to know their new teacher showed up, you'd be asking a string of questions too. Indeed, that's what the majority of the class did, hammering the six newcomers with such questions as "Do you know how that girl teaches back at your class?" "Are you guys good at math?" and even gems like "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Our six newbies merely stared back, some with a grin, others with confusion or apprehension.

"HEY!" Becky screeched, flailing her arms angrily but cutely. Unfortunately for Becky, just as she was about to yell at everyone again, Rei saw what was coming and used one of her old favorite tricks. "Ohhh Beckyyyy..." The unknowing girl turned to her attention, only to see a hideous eye in Rei's outstretched hand. Becky squealed, and as usual fled to the corner... only to see there was no curtain! So she could only cower in the corner, pouting and whimpering cutely as Rei laughed like a supervillain. Becky's "Hau hau hau..." was barely audible from the corner of the room.

Two things however, brought the class into a sudden silence. The first thing was Becky's whimpering, now accompanied with a soft whine: "I-I'm the teacher, you idiots!" The noise died down, and murmurs of sympathy could be heard. The second thing was the return of Negi Springfield, who walked into the class and noticed something was up. "Miyamoto-san!" He immediately rushed over to where she was, ignoring Rei. "Are you okay?"

Becky only mutely stared at the boy, the fear and frustration being replaced by faint surprise. Negi, always being the insightful Gary St—er I mean young man quickly figured out that 3-A probably intimidated her. Deciding to reassure the girl, Negi extended a gentle hand. "It's all right, Miyamoto-san. I'll be here, to help you out whenever you may need it." No English gentleman could top the Springfield right then.

The blond girl demurely reached out and accepted his hand, and he helped her up. Negi didn't quite notice the class reaction until he turned back, seeing all of their shocked faces.

Leave it to Asuna to ruin the mood. "They really ARE going out!" She suddenly exclaimed. Ayaka quickly countered with a beautiful Negi-paddle to her face, sending the girl into the stratosphere with a ding for added effect.

"Enough of that nonsense!" Ayaka bellowed, silencing any further would-be smart-alecks. "Now, Miyamoto-sensei," she added this with a respectful bow. "if you would be so kind as to help us out and begin the lesson."

"Right!" Negi said as he took a silent headcount of the group. However, he noticed there was suddenly thirty-five heads in the room. Evangeline and Chachamaru were playing hooky this time, but... "Errm, excuse me, but how come there's suddenly six new faces in here?"

Becky sighed. "Those clowns are with me... whether I want them to be or not."

"Whoa, so these guys have a tiny teacher too?!" A false hair on Himeko's head shot up, forming a question mark. "Oh man, that is soooo omega awesome!"

"We have another Becky?" Kurumi asked scanning the front area a bit before spotting Negi. Long distance away, huh?

"These guys share more in common with us than we thought..." Konoka voiced her thoughts out loud.

"Heh, you're Negi Springfield, huh?" Rei said, scrutinizing the boy through her glasses. Negi merely nodded, slightly intimidated by her presence. "Well, we're Becky's students in her previous school and her partners in crime. Yo Becky," Her expression grew much softer as she turned towards the girl. "Roll call!"

Sheepish from the sudden respect she was getting, Becky smiled slightly. "Fine." She boldly faced the class. "Peach Moon! Roll Call!"

"Himeko Katagiri!" The blue-haired girl sang. She and each of the other girls stood up at attention as they were called.

"Miyako Uehara."

"Rei Tachibana."

"Ichijou."

"Kurumi Momose!"

"Sayaka Suzuki."

Negi smiled, holding his staff up. "Welcome girls, to Mahora Academy." By this time the weakling Mesousa had FINALLY pushed her stool over to the blackboard, and she could now begin the lesson.

* * *

"Bleeehhh," Asuna sighed in frustration, her bones aching from her violent return to the classroom. Gravity sucks. Plus, Ayaka managed to knock her so far in the stratosphere that she wound up missing most of the class, too! Now she'll NEVER learn enough math to get past that dreaded Nitta-sensei! "Even if the class improves I'm still gonna be a Baka Ranger..."

"Asuna-san! Are you okay?" The twins Fuuka and Fumika rushed up to her, concern in their blue and green eyes.

Fuuka spoke first. "Some of the others are waiting for you to get the Chupacabra Research Society started!"

Fumika continued, "I think the new students followed us too, so we can't talk magic."

"Really?! Holy crap!" This quickly got Asuna out of whatever depression she was feeling at the moment. Asuna followed the sprinting twins with her own jog. "If they're interested in actually _finding_ that Chupacabra, then we don't NEED to talk about magic!"

* * *

"Chupacabra?" The red-haired Miyako asked, adjusting her glasses.

"This is the Chupacabra Research Society," Konoka answered. Three of the new girls, Miyako, Rokugou, and Rei had joined Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, Haruna, Kaede, and the twins in the research room. The small room towards the back was the usual meeting spot of the Chupacabra Research Society and more recently Negi's Ministra Magi—the students of his aware of his magic. However since, not all of those aware of magic were there, as well as a few new faces, Asuna decided to convert it back into a chupacabra hunting meeting. Konoka leaned close to the other girl and whispered, "It's one of Asuna's harebrained schemes, actually, but it's pretty fun!" Konoka wisely gave away nothing about her knowledge of magic.

"I'm not sure if that's the right word to describe this group," Setsuna the demure samurai added.

"Aww, hush, Secchan."

"You think one's been on this campus?" Rei asked, eyebrow raised. "I thought all the weirdo animals stuck to the deep jungles."

"Yes!" Asuna crowed. "People have reported seeing some, so we formed this group to see if we could spot one and catch it!" She was decked in the usual leader's suit: a doctor's coat and headband over her school uniform. Oddly enough none of the newbies to the group seemed to care.

"Oooh..." The newbies to the group marveled.

"Really?" Rei rubbed her chin. "What's it look like?"

Haruna's hair pricked. "This is my artist's depiction!" She beamed, turning her tablet so that the new girls could see. The irked face of the ugly tan creature stared back, spines lining down its back, short arms and legs almost sticking out on its bean-shaped body.

None were impressed. "That's pretty ugly." Miyako commented, her forehead randomly shining as if it agreed with her.

"That's an ugly of the year," Rokugou added almost thoughtfully.

"That's actually pretty accurate," Rei observed. "Don't think those creatures could actually win any beauty contests. They do suck blood with their tongues after all."

"But what if there were beauty contests FOR chupacabras?" The tall Kaede spoke in the meeting for the first time. "They surely need to attract a mate, don't they?"

"That's a good point," Asuna said to Kaede. "But what could possibly attract another chupacabra?"

"Trouble," Setsuna suddenly stood up, grim determination on her face. Her sword Yuunagi was already at her side as she made an impressive leap over the desk the group was sitting at, whirled and faced a window at the corner. "Asuna-san. That shadow...!"

"She brings a SWORD to school?!" Miyako gasped, standing up. "Is she like an elite bodyguard?" She had no idea how right her assessment was.

Asuna looked over in Setsuna's direction, suddenly seeing what she was talking about. That shadow looked remarkably close to what they were talking about... spines, short body... "Enough about that! That's a CHUPACABRA!"

"O RLY?!" Rokugou picked up on the excitement.

"YA RLY!" Asuna affirmed. "Chupacabra team, move out!"

"NO WAI!" Miyako couldn't believe her eyes. Just a few hours in a new land and already there was excitement. Even with their trip to the jungle, she wasn't expecting this much excitement to happen in Mahora Academy. Then again, we wouldn't have a story if there wasn't any kind of excitement, now would we? She followed the others, who were already sprinting out of the d

* * *

The partial clouds and breeze actually made things a bit cool that day, but in the excitement of actually catching that dastardly chupacabra, none of the girls really cared. Why should they, considering that they're incredibly close to catching such a fabled creature? They came to a stop outside of the window where Setsuna and Asuna had spotted the shadow. "Drat! We just saw it out here!"

"I don't see it either," Rokugou said, scanning the surrounding area and coming up with nothing.

"Asuna-san, we should split up." Setsuna suggested. "We might have better luck catching it."

The cogs were turning in Asuna's head, and she quickly picked up what Setsuna was really asking. Playing along, she took the leader role once more. "Alright then! Setsuna has a good idea! Kaede, take Haruna and the new girls and head that way! Everyone else stick with me! We'll meet back if we get anything!" Asuna pointed dramatically. "Don't let that chupacabra get away!" And with that she, Setsuna, Konoka, and the twins sprinted off in another direction, leaving everyone else in a very confused state.

Kaede did the impossible and blinked despite her fox-like eyes.

"Did you just blink?" Rei asked.

"Yes I did. Why do you ask?" Kaede said, confused by her question.

"Kinda hard to tell." Rei shoved her glasses back on her face with a finger. She looked around. "I don't see where that thing could've run off to. Maybe we were just seeing things?"

"Something tells me that isn't the case," Kaede answered. That gut feeling of _something had just begun_ seemed to be dancing all over the inside of her stomach. Either that or she was hungry. Her intuition had won out, however, when she took a look at the group again. There was Haruna, the forehead girl and the cunning Chinese girl... "I don't see the blue-haired girl with us."

"Did she leave with the others?" Haruna asked.

"No, I didn't see Rokugou-san leave with the others..." Rei had wisely kept sight of who left and who stayed, and she distinctly remembered that none of Becky's students left with group leader Asuna. So why was Rokugou missing? This surely isn't looking good, folks.

A flicker caught the edge of her glasses. Rei turned around sharply, catching the attention of the others. "...?! Rokugou!" She rounded the corner...

...and saw nothing but a faint flash of light disappearing, something like a faint heat wave taking its place. "...she disappeared."

"This is bad," the other three did the good thing and stated the obvious.

* * *

In truth, Rokugou found herself in another dimension. An interesting flicker had caught her eye while everyone was splitting up. She followed it, only to touch a faint light and find herself being sucked into another world. She couldn't even cry or scream out—the ride was literally breathtaking, and she wasn't sure if it was in a good way ("Yes it is," Motsu claims.).

She found herself beside a pristine lake, its azure countenance perfectly reflecting the sky. Blue-tinted mountain stood tall on the other side of the lake. If the ride here wasn't breathtaking in "a good way", the view here sure was. Temporarily forgetting about her plight of being stranded, the nice girl headed towards the lake, taking in everything that the visual masterpiece of a scene had to offer.

She sat down at the water's edge, gazing and lost in thought, much like she used to do back at home before she met Igarashi-sensei. "It's so pretty here, just like at home," she murmured to herself.

Rokugou smiled.

She gazed out further, and something dark caught her eye. A swan... a creature not seen in Japan, yet here it was in this world. It was pitch black, down to the plume of its feathers and long neck. It greeted the young girl with yellow eyes—unusual for even a swan.

It was then she noticed the boy behind it.

He looked to be her age, perhaps a year older, his hair short and somewhat spiky. His skin was as dark as chocolate, and his eyes were a strange neon-orange. He too was in the water, seemingly gazing out at the scenery as well as keeping an eye on the unusual swan. Before she knew that she was staring, the boy turned around and spotted her. Surprise etched his features for a moment before a thoughtful grin took their place. "You aren't the small boss after all... but a fair maiden here, at the vestige of darkness."

"Darkness?" Rokugou inquired softly.

The boy headed towards her, and only now could she see a slightly dark aura that surrounded him. The strange swan followed right behind him. "The fate of those consumed by hatred, pride... a number of things. But I sense none of those things from you. And yet you interest me..." That wicked grin was still on his face. "What's your name, miss?"

Somewhat startled, Rokugou rose and backed up a bit. "I-I'm Suzuki Sayaka... but everyone calls me R-Rokugou."

"Well then, Miss... Rokugou," the boy almost announced, his slow, harsh voice seeming to echo. He swept a courteous bow just as the swan behind him outstretched its wings, revealing that it was a whole lot... bigger than one would expect, wingspan and all. "You can call me Cygnus. The Devil's Swan at your service."

And the grand dark swan makes his appearance. Who is he and why should you care? Stick around for the next episode and find out. I promise free cookies if you rev—-BLAM-

(We apologize for the heinous act of review whoring the narrator just pulled. Rest assured you will not see it again.)

&

"Hi... I'm Rokugou. Sometimes I like to go gazing out by the lake near my house... but now I'm face to face with someone creepy. Dreamy but creepy, like a scarier version of those bishounen boys in the shoujo manga Miyako reads... But still... next time on Scheme!? Final Mix: "Are You Truly Evil?" by Rokugou. Errm... what does he want with me?"

(Don't dismiss this reimaging as a minor update. While a few chapters only get better description, I'm adding new scenes and changing the story just a bit. Exclusive new content and boss fights... IN AMERICA! Take _that_, Square Enix!)


	3. Are You Truly Evil? By Rokugou

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Chapter 2: "Are You Truly Evil?" by Rokugou**

"You can call me Cygnus. The Devil's Swan, at your service."

The girl stood back, not sure what to make of this boy's appearance. He was wearing nothing from the waist up, his aura screamed "really evil villain", and he had haunting eyes that would probably set off the Gary Stu alarms. However this boy seemed to be serving her a rare kind of respect she hadn't seen, not even from her friends. "So! This affirms my theory on how I'm here..." Rokugou backed up further as the boy stepped out of the water. "Thanks to those gems, I was called here. I chewed up too much of my power sending them away... but if I gather enough darkness..."

"What are you talking about?" Rokugou asked shyly.

"The _darkness_ of course!" Cygnus bellowed, baring his fanged teeth in an un-swan-like manner. "Gatherin' enough darkness to plunge an entire dimension black would be ideal. Say... you wouldn't happen to have some darkness in that heart of yours, would you?" Cygnus leered at the girl, his grin growing more feral by the moment.

"I-I don't know!" Rokugou was shivering by this point. She certainly didn't like the way this conversation was going. You probably wouldn't, either.

Cygnus chuckled a bit. Extending a hand, he said, "You should give in to darkness. I promise it won't hurt."

This clever bastard... tempting a fair maiden! What kind of heartless villain would do such a thing? Probably several, but that's besides the point! What kind of evils could this Gary S—err evildoer be planning?

Whatever plan he had in mind then was doomed to fail, as they were rudely interrupted by a voice piercing their conversation. "Found you!"

Both of them turned to see... a giant mechanical hound leering at them! The creature was mostly black, with sharp, red edges and yellow slits for eyes. A red protrusion stuck out from behind its head. "You shouldn't be so insolent! After all, I brought you into this world!" It seemed like the voice speaking wasn't the giant dog, rather it was the host of some very clear radio frequency.

"How about 'no'," Cygnus countered. The way that annoying man said it seemed like he MADE him, rather than just summoning him. "Your joke is bad and you should feel bad!"

"Oh you!" The voice taunted. "Is THAT how you feel then? So be it!" Something opened on the dog's back, and about four missiles launched, all of them headed towards the two of them.

Rokugou was nowhere near fast enough to evade anything, so she cowered and waited for the inevitable blast that would undoubtedly render her kibbles and bits. Only it didn't come, because when she opened her eyes again, she saw that giant swan guarding her, absorbing the blasts.

An angry Cygnus glanced in her direction, concern temporarily etched on his features. "Are you okay?" The girl, stunned by these events, could only nod. "Good. Then..." Something clicked. He was a villain of evil. Since when did evil villains help people?! He was supposed to kick start his path of villainy again! He snarled, clawing his hair in frustration before whirling back to the mechanical dog. "DAMN YOU! I'm supposed to be evil and you're making me defend a helpless damsel?!"

"It's not MY fault if you suck at being evil!" The voice responded. "Egg Cerberus, destroy those infidels!" Accepting those commands, the giant hound roared and began to leap towards the two.

"_Screw you_," Cygnus "skated" towards his foe, bringing forth dark powers and forming it into a crude sword. Darkness met mechanical teeth as the Egg Cerberus tried to chew through Cygnus's makeshift blade. The boy made an extra push, the sword slightly tearing through the dog's jaws.

Nowhere near finished, the dog reared back and pounced. Cygnus erratically glided back, and the dog's forelegs crashed where he was moments before. "Heh," The mysterious swan boy smirked. He wound his body tightly before swinging that sword viciously with a guttural yell. The sword crashed into the creature; it (and Cygnus) nearly jerked from the recoil. The creature stumbled back a bit before righting itself.

Egg Cerberus snarled.

"Aw snap," Cygnus tensed as Egg Cerberus mounted a much fiercer assault this time, biting and snapping as Cygnus weaved through his attacks. Unfortunately the dog pulled a clever trick of suddenly taking a massive leap into the air. It slammed down with tremendous force, shaking the earth and knocking Rokugou off her feet and Cygnus off balance. It was all the dog needed to whirl around and slam the boy with his tail.

Now Rokugou wasn't sure who was the bad guy here, considering that both of them had wanted to harm her at some point or another, but she couldn't help but worry over Cygnus. She cringed as he crashed into the dirt, but that changed into surprise when the Egg Cerberus tried to pounce on the boy, only for him to disappear into a burst of black smoke and reappear some distance away.

"Oh look, YOU MISSED!" Cygnus crowed. The dog merely growled and roared in response. "Have a taste of your own medicine then!" Cygnus bellowed. His jaws stretched unbelievably wide before a dark projection of sharp jaws formed around Egg Cerberus's head. The shadow teeth crunched Egg Cerberus, and the dog staggered back, beginning to short circuit. It shook off this "pain" and lunged at Cygnus again. This time it dropped its head in an attempt to catch Cygnus from below with an imitation of his Crunch technique.

Big mistake.

Cygnus took the opportunity to jump on top of the Egg Cerberus, hanging on tight to the red protrusion as it now tried to shake him off. "YEEEHAW!" Cygnus bellowed. Try as it might, the mechanical creature couldn't shake off the Devil's Swan. As a result Cygnus began to steer the now wild-bull-like dog right into a tree, just to show how much he cared. The sudden impact violently shook the creature, and Cygnus merely leapt off, landing gracefully on the ground.

The creature's functions began to fail it. Electricity cackled all over the Egg Cerberus as it began to break down. The voice surely didn't like this. "NOO! Curse you Cygnus!"

"HA! You can't hope to defeat me!" Cygnus gloated, baring his teeth in an un-swan-like fashion. "I'm THE REAL DARKNESS!"

"Don't think you've won the evil contest just yet," Both humans in that field could practically hear the smile form on the voice's face. "I've already locked the coordinates of that dimension the little lady comes from. I'll be there, in some form or another—" Whatever else he was going to say wasn't heard, as the Egg Cerberus had broken down completely.

Cygnus and Rokugou stood silently for a while, gazing at nothing. It'd be nice to just leave them for a while, but that changed when Rokugou spoke up. "Are you... really a villain?"

Cygnus didn't answer. He merely lifted his arm, and the swan guardian flew up and landed on his shoulder, before disappearing and becoming a symbol on the boy's back. He faced Rokugou once more. She started blushing, twiddling her fingers as she decided to continued, "Well, it was just that you protected me, and I-I didn't think an evil villain would do that..."

Cygnus actually had to chuckle at that. "Ya know, you're quite naïve on the ways of evil villainy. I was just smashing him because he was messing with my hostage!" The gears were turning in the boy's head. "Aha, that's right! Hostage!" Rokugou paled again as the boy pointed dramatically at her. Cygnus wasn't finished, however. He turned away again. "But still, you fascinate me. I was on my way to your world in the first place, since it's where the jewels have landed, so you can judge for yourself how awesomely evil I am. You wouldn't mind following me, would you?"

The gears in Rokugou's head spun as well. Has she... happened upon a rare, exotic species of male tsundere?! She was not afraid of taking the bait—she was a nice girl, after all. "N-not at all..." The blush returned. He was kind of badass in that Igarashi-sensei kinda way...

Cygnus walked close to her. "You probably have a few people, or at least somebody who's gonna act recklessly with you in my clutches, so I hope you don't mind if I do... this," The nice girl stiffened a bit but didn't waver. A bit of darkness swirled around her, and before she knew it, she was bound hand and foot. Cygnus scooped her up gently. "So... shall we?"

Rokugou was too busy blushing to answer, but she probably would've said yes.

With that, Cygnus found that portal Rokugou arrived in. Seeing as it was still tangible, the dark boy forced it open with his powers. He stepped in with her, leaving behind the Azure Lake.

* * *

Nodoka Miyazaki, shyest member of the Library Club and the second Ministra Magi of Negi Springfield... while she has made great progress in earning the affections of our child hero, nothing she has thus accomplished in life could prepare her for this.

A strange soda machine sat at the end of one hallway, almost like it was beckoning her. Being thirsty of course, she went to go buy a simple soda. When she got there, she saw Shichimi already there, bouncing yet again to that mysterious beat. "Wonder where that soda machine came from, mya," the cat creature commented once it was aware that Nodoka was nearby. "I don't think it was here yesterday, mya."

"Umm, maybe they're installing new ones..." Nodoka answered softly, not even sure if that made any sense. You'd have to give her a break though, it's not like she (or anyone) could come up with something better! She reached into her pocket, fishing for change. "L-let's see what they have... ah!" She noticed the machine was _opening_.

Inside that soda machine was not lots of sodas at all, but rather a cat. A cat holding a few sodas, to be precise. It was orange and somewhat alien-looking, and it also carried a blank smile. It offered a soda to Nodoka. "It's body temperature-nya."

Nodoka and Shichimi said nothing.

"Please take one-nya."

Nothing but open-mouthed staring.

The cat decided to take a radically different approach, much like his distant cousin. In terrible, loud Engrish he spoke, "HALLO EVERYNYUN! HOWAH YOU? WHY SANKYOU..."

Nodoka did not like this one bit. In a rare fit of frightened rage, she started throwing things at him, objects likely pulled from hammerspace. "AIIIEEE! GO AWAY!" This horrifying mockery of an innocent thing once past HAD to be some demon! And with no Negi to activate her contract...

The cat inside the soda machine panicked and shut the door. At once the bottom began to jet out like a rocket, and the soda machine burst through the walls and escaped skyward. Now safe from the perceived danger, Nodoka sighed.

"That joke has already been used, mya," Shichimi said sagely. "I hope he has good lawyers."

* * *

Done with classes for today, Negi Springfield sat calmly at his teacher's desk, organizing papers and letting his thoughts run wild. With clothes on, mind you, don't even THINK in the gutter! In fact, he was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Becky enter the room until she sat down nearby. Snapping back into reality like a silent rubber band, Negi greeted her, "Miyamoto-san!"

"Call me Becky," the girl mumbled, glancing at him sideways. "Thanks for earlier," being humble was not one of Becky's strong points.

Negi's infinite kindness didn't care. He simply accepted. "Okay, Becky-san."

They sat in silence for a while, staring at each other. Of course, rabid fangirls would take this time to write mushy romance, but if you're looking for that, I'm sorry to say this isn't that kind of story. Whatever they could've said in those moments was interrupted anyway. Negi's ears faintly picked up a noise. He whirled around to see a shadow barely escape his eye. "Huh?"

"Did you see something?" Becky raised an eyebrow.

"Not sure," Negi's voice tensed. With the Star Crystal incidents that had occurred earlier, he had learned to not underestimate or ignore anything, especially if his staff reacted to it. Luckily Becky didn't see that part. "Becky-san, stay here." He advised as he went out the door in pursuit of the shadow.

"Wait, what?! Why?" Becky called out, getting up and about to go after him, but he was gone in a flash. Sulking, she sat back down, angry that despite all the niceness she gathered, he blew her off. Or at least that's what it felt like. Harrumphing as she bitterly cursed her luck, she was surprised when suddenly she found herself staring at Motsu, the strange, hated frog thing. Unfortunately for everyone, all impulse to render the frog into paste was suppressed by an insane curiosity. "Wait a second... haven't I seen you before?"

"No," Motsu answered simply. "My appearance in your side of town was only a figment of your 'imaginaaaaation'." His use of 'imagination' was accented by a hand gesture which imitated a rainbow, complete with sparking rainbow effects. "Anyway, you shouldn't be angry at Negi, sometimes he has to take care of business."

"What kind of business?" The raised eyebrow response from Becky.

Normally, Motsu would be rabidly against someone finding out about magic—after all, his main (extremely annoying) purpose after reporting about the Star Crystal was to keep Negi from letting loose-lipped students find out about his magic.

But that is where the headmaster's orders come in. A subtle remark about "You don't really need to keep a close eye on Negi's visitors—their land has magic too." pretty much told him that something was going to happen, and that he was supposed to do absolutely nothing about it. So instead, he simply said, "It's best that you discovered that for yourself then, if you're so curious. Must warn you though, less important people have gotten into bigger trouble. In a good way."

Becky did not care at this point. Even though not too much out of the ordinary happened, something was being set up: the enigmatic headmaster, that boy and his position teaching those girls, the fact that everything seemed to perfectly line themselves up for this event to happen... She was going to find out, irregardless of the trouble. She stomped off after Negi, leaving Motsu behind. With that the frog uttered some last words before our scene change: "This is what he wanted, right? I sure hope so... in a good way."

* * *

Negi had stepped out of the classroom, letting his staff guide him (although he wasn't holding it so he wouldn't get any suspicion.). _That shadow..._ he thought. _Could it be...?_ He rounded a corner, and sure enough he saw it. The shadow was a short thing, equal to him in height. It had spikes on its back, and it seemed a bit streamlined, but other than that it seemed like it could be... Thoughts flashed back to Asuna's club. "The chupacabra?" Negi didn't think that they'd actually _run into_ one, considering that the club was acting more like a cover up for those who knew about Negi's magic, but still—a chupacabra?

He had no chance to even say anything, as the shadow jumped away. "Wait!" He cried, trying to catch up to it. But the shadow was too fast—in a blink of an eye, it had disappeared, and Negi was left only with his glowing staff. The game, however, was far from over. "I think I can still tail him... Asuna-san would love it if I could catch him!" Negi noted with childish glee. He followed his staff, proceeding slowly and using an area effect spell to alert him if anyone else showed up.

He suddenly spotted the shadow once again, running off in another direction. Springing into action, Negi picked up speed and followed it into the school library.

The bookcases were fairly tall around here, so Negi had to search a bit before finding the shadow. It was now standing on top of the bookcase. Quickly seeing and sensing if anyone else was around, Negi the decided to bring out the magic tricks. He aimed an outstretched hand. "Tel ma... AMORIS!" Two large chains shot out towards the figure—and it wasn't fast enough to escape this time. Negi felt, rather than saw, the successful click of his spell working. "Yes!" He silently cheered to himself. The spell was seamless this time around—no crashing through bookcases and making loud noises this time, and with nobody else around, it certainly didn't go wrong.

Well maybe I spoke too soon, since when Negi pulled down the figure, he found himself staring at Ichijou.

"UWEEEH?!" Negi panicked, his eyes growing huge at his obvious mistake.

"Hello, Negi-sensei," Ichijou greeted not unkindly.

"'Sup, Aniki," Kamo popped out of Ichijou's hair. "Say, did you know this girl knew about magic?"

"UWWWEEEHH?!" Negi nearly shouted again.

"DAH!" Their attention was now drawn to a stunned Becky, who pointed at them with a quivering finger.

"UWWEEEHH?!"

"DAH!"

"UWWEEEHH?!

"DAH!"

"Negi! I think we found the—"Asuna and her group charged in. only to see the massive trouble Negi just found himself in. "...fact that you're screwed."

"UWWEEEHH?"

"Becky-san! Rokugou has—" Rei, Kaede, Haruna, and Miyako burst in, only to join in on the awkward scene as well. "Oh snap."

"UWWEEEHH?!"

"AHA!" The dreaded appearance of Motsu scared everyone into a shocked silence. "The failure of keeping your identity secret means you will have your magic taken away and be turned into an animal! BUT!" Motsu temporarily warded off any potential beatings. "I will now reveal the best plot twist ever. It's not going to happen, because these girls have already been affiliated with magic! In a good way!"

"UWWEEEHH?!" Now it was everybody else's turn to gasp in shock.

"I haven't seen this kind of—" Becky began, but stopped short. So THIS is what she was being set up for. How lovely. "Oh."

"Man, this is cool!" Haruna marveled.

"It would be best if you kept this amongst yourselves," Motsu's eyes twinkled mischievously. "But I have other things to do, so see ya!" He began to walk off, almost scot free.

That was until he bumped right into a soda machine. The machine opened, and yet again that creepy cat sat in there. Its eyes gleamed at Motsu. "I don't think you can get away, nya."

"What? OOOOOHHHHH!" The soda machine closed with Motsu inside it. After about five seconds of horrifying sounds, the machine opened again, and Motsu floated out like a sheet of paper.

After a minute of silence, the cat spoke again. "I have our the regular milks, nya."

Every human in the room lined up to buy one.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Becky muttered. "You're a mage. Magician, what have you. And teaching these girls is part of your training. And because these girls had troubles with math, the dean helped you out, and saw fit to also introduce me to magic at the same time. Is that it?"

"That's the gist of it." Negi smiled nervously. "Sorry, Becky-san."

The girl waved it off. "Meh, I've run into weirder things back at my school. I guess this explains a lot."

"So cool!" Haruna said, her glasses nearly shining with glee. Such an epic discovery could lead to a lot of things! Science spectacles! Drama! _All fuel for her manga ideas_! "Can't wait to tell the whole class!"

Too bad that would not come to pass. "_Don't do it_!" Negi and several other Chupa-Team members interjected at the same time.

"Huh?" The artist blinked in confusion. "Why not?"

"He gets turned into an animal and his magic gets stripped if anyone who's not supposed to find out finds out," Konoka supplied matter-of-factly.

"It was probably by the Headmaster's grace that Motsu-san didn't get me into trouble with my school when that... awkward situation happened," Negi answered. "I don't think Motsu-san would extend that grace to all of my class. Too many people already know as is..."

"Oh... I see," Haruna went back to contemplating. "Still, this is _nice_. What else can you do as a mage?"

The young boy began to mentally gather all of his skills. "Well, I can cast magic arrows, limited healing, fly on my staff..."

"I must say, you being as young and powerful as you are makes you quite popular, doesn't it?" Rei adjusted her glasses. Negi could've sworn her eyes were gleaming straight at him. "Considering quite a few of those girls help you out now on your tasks."

"Uhh... that is to say..." Negi rubbed his neck nervously.

"Big bro is popular with the ladies!" Kamo interjected boldly. "He's already made seven contracts! As long as he keeps making them, he'll get more power to deal with any troubles we might face (and I'll be much richer)!" He hopped up on top of Negi, sharing the same mischievous gleam in his eyes as countless others. "Say, ladies, any of you interested in forming a contract with big bro? You'll get awesome magic powers!"

"Ah, I'll pass," Ichijou stated plainly.

"Don't need one," The grin never left Rei's face.

"_Sign me up_!" Haruna crowed.

"OOH! I want to!" Miyako was at Kamo's face in an instant. "How do I do that?"

Negi and the six girls in the room he had already made contracts with suddenly got red faces. "Uhh," Negi twiddled his fingers.

"A kiss." Ichijou said. "On the lips."

"UWAH!?" Miyako came to her senses so fast she was on the opposite wall in the blink of an eye. Then something clicked, and she pointed at Ichijou. "Wait, how do YOU know?!"

"I know a lot of things," She stated simply. A small smile played on her lips. "I travel everywhere when I'm not in school." This last sentence was terribly cryptic, but considering the fact that it was Ichijou, nobody really cared.

"Is that all?" Haruna blinked, completely unfazed by everyone's reactions. "Easy enough. Hey Negi-kun, c'mere!" She grinned, those eyes looking fairly unholy.

"I figured it'd be something like that," Rei said sagely. Then an idea struck her. A wonderful, awful idea. "Say Becky. Unlike the rest of us, Negi's in your age group. Why don't you give it a try?"

"W-WHAT? M-ME?!" Becky panicked.

Haruna stopped her lecherous advancement on Negi and turned to Becky. "Ya know, that's the best idea I've ever heard." Becky flinched under the girl's mischievous stare.

"Now that I think about it, they would complement each other quite nicely," Kaede rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, Negi-kun and Miyamoto-sensei would make a cute couple!" Konoka added with a giggle.

"Ojou-sama, are you sure you should be saying things like that?" Setsuna asked her charge.

Asuna stared blankly. "That's kinda ridiculous."

"Oy, Asuna-nee-san, you have that 'I'm-losing-my-younger-brother-to-another-girl look—GRAUGH!" Kamo started to say, but the bad news was that Asuna was in his face, crushing his skull. "Animal abuse!" Kamo cried in pain.

"You should do it!" Fuuka cheered to Becky.

"It'd be nice!" Fumika added. Both twins then proceeded to go to Becky and push her towards Negi. Seeing opportunity, Kamo quickly summoned the pactio circle, the symbolic, glowing circle that initiated many a new apprentice. "You should do it!" Fumika echoed her twin sister.

With the circle now going, she could back out now. Negi gave an apologetic smile. "Guess the road of a child genius isn't easy," he said. "But don't worry! I'll help you out, every step of the way."

Becky stared down, her cute face growing redder. "I... I guess I'll help you out too. You kinda just said it."

They stepped towards each other, and much to the delight of everyone else, they locked lips.

"Pactioooo!" Kamo shouted. With that, three cards jutted out from the ground, flew for a bit, and then inserted themselves into Becky's soul.

Most of the group erupted into cheers. Rei and Asuna exchanged wry looks.

Once the excitement finally died down, Negi took the serious business route. "Okay then, we still have business to take care of. I'm sorry, getting caught up in the moment kind of distracted me, but we need to look for Rokugou-san, don't we?"

There was a gasp from Becky. "Wait a second, she's gone?!"

"Yeah, she kinda disappeared on us," Rei said. "There's something weird where she vanished at."

"We need to investigate that, then," Negi said. "Unfortunately we'll be too suspicious if we're all in one large group, so Becky, Asuna-san and I will investigate where Rokugou-san disappeared. The others, please search the school grounds for Rokugou-san."

"Right!" The majority of the group decreed as they began to split in separate directions.

"Hold it." Haruna's voice brought the whole thing to a screeching halt. As several confused and concerned faces turned to her, she said, "I don't remember saying no to a pactio, did I?"

Negi flinched. "Umm... Haruna-san, I—"

"C'mere, Negi-kun! I wanna pay for my contract... in RAPE DOLLARS," her grin grew feral as Negi found himself backed into a suspiciously convenient corner formed by Rei and a suspiciously happy Konoka. A sharp eye would also notice the glowing pactio circle forming right under the two of them.

"Haruna-san, we can discuss this civilly, right? Right? Haruna-san?! HARUNA-SAAAAA—"

-SMOOCH-

* * *

"Augh..." Yue flinched, her stomach filled to the brim with dread, as if she had heard a million Negi-senseis cry out before being silenced by a vicious kiss. "What a random time to feel like something terrible has happened..." The girl stood up to head out of her dorms and get some water, but a pillow on the ground decided it would be fun to trip her up. The short girl crashed into the ground a moment later.

"Mukyuu..." Yue groaned in an alternate-universe fashion.

* * *

Negi, feeling queasy to the stomach, stumbled along the halls with his small group in tow. While Haruna was no longer traveling with them, the mere though of the girl nearly shook the boy in heavy embarrassment. So why were Becky and Asuna giving him those looks? Then again, Ichijou was also there in front of him, so they could be leering at her, but... He thought to ask about their distrustful looks, but then an urgent voice broke through. "Negi-kun!""

Negi turned to see Konoka, her face etched in worry. "Konoka-san? What is it?"

"There was darkness again! It tied up Secchan!" She flailed her arms, and to prove her point, aimed her finger behind her. Negi looked past the girl to see Setsuna furiously trying to undo ropes around her.

"What?!" Asuna bounced to attention.

"_Again_? Why do I not like the sound of that?" Becky's pitch rose with her apprehension.

"What are you talking about?" Ichijou merely blinked.

"Negi-sensei!" Setsuna barked. "Watch out, that darkness isn't on a level we've seen before!"

As if on cue, Negi's staff began to glow. It was an all too similar reaction. "That must be..." He looked beyond the room. "Let's go!" He bolted off with Ichijou right behind him; and it took a moment for Asuna and Becky to follow suit.

"Be careful, Negi-kun!" Konoka called out.

* * *

Negi's sharp eye caught a strange disturbance in one of the rooms. His staff's glowing power grew much stronger... was this the darkness he was following?

"This... this looks like a tear in time-space," Negi said. "Despite it being small, it'd take a powerful reaction for something to cause this..."

"Could this involve Rokugou?" Becky asked. "If that darkness that airhead girl was talking about was involved in her disappearance..."

"It's _Konoka_," Asuna snapped to the girl correcting her in her friend's place. "But Negi... could this be another power of that Star Crystal thingy you mentioned?"

"Could be. I don't know what the magic the Star Crystal exudes feels like." Negi answered. "Only one way to find out." He aimed his staff. "Ras Tel Ma Scir..."

"Don't need to do that," Ichijou pointed out. "Just poke it."

"Wait, Ichijou-san don't—!" Becky started, but it was too late. In a matter of seconds, the breathtaking adventure of warping through time and space happened yet AGAIN.

What would you say if you were being sent to another dimension? I don't claim to know, but maybe it'd be a bit more original than what our heroes said: "UWWWAAAHHHHHH!"

* * *

The maddening clocks, the dull gray feel of empty time.

That's where our heroes find themselves, locked in an inactive arena of clocks. If this was supposed to be an Amazing Arena, then it certainly didn't feel amazing. As a matter of fact it felt more creepy than amazing. Aside from their terrific crash into this world, all Negi and his partners heard was the steady TICK...TICK...TICK of the few active clocks.

Negi scanned the area around him. Something wasn't right... unlike his last dimension hop, this certainly was not Wales. "Huh... this isn't a mirage! This really is another dimension!" Negi exclaimed. "I don't remember the fairies having this kind of power..."

"Fairies? What are you talking about?!" Becky reeled, completely confused by this turn of events.

Negi chuckled nervously. "I'll explain that to you later, Becky-san. I promise."

The blonde sighed. Stuck in another dimension with only Ichijou-san and two dunderheads. Not to mention just how dead and gray everything looked. "Geez, why does all this have to happen to meee?"

"Is it just me..." Negi began, eyes widening slightly. "Or is this place... drowning in darkness?"

The others slowly noticed what Negi already had: the area around them had somehow grown darker. Senses heightened, nerves tensed and brains were quickly brushing up on their horror genre savvy. It was then Asuna picked up on a faint mewling sound. "Who's there?!"

"A trap," Ichijou answered.

"No time for that!" Asuna shot back before looking around again. She spotted someone in the distance. "Look!"

The other three (and Kamo) followed Asuna's finger to... one Sayaka Suzuki.

"Rokugou!" Becky shouted. She and Negi ran up to the blue-haired girl. Only upon approach did they see the dark tendrils acting as a restraint, binding the poor girl hand and foot. Cloth obscured her mouth, thus the mewling sounds they heard. "EH?!"

"She's tied up?!" Negi flinched in his shock.

"I told you..." Ichijou stepped up until she was even with Negi and Becky. "It's a trap."

Asuna, the only person who hadn't run forward, began to do so...

But suddenly: DARKNESS!

The redhead nearly stumbled backwards as the mysterious shape grew right behind the others. "N-Negi..." She cried out weakly, eyes growing wider by the second.

Negi and Becky dared not look back, as they could feel the overwhelming darkness form right behind them. "Told you so," Ichijou stated mutely.

Kamo popped up, looked behind Negi, and saw the leering figure with neon-orange eyes ready to pounce. "BIG BRO!"

Kamo's words pushed the boy back into action. Negi grabbed Becky's hand and dived out of the way as a deadly hand clap slammed where they were just moments before. Ichijou merely sidestepped the attack and calmly backed herself to where Asuna was.

"Huhuhuhuhu..." The dark person before them slowly turned around, revealing himself to the rest of the onlookers. "Just a bunch of kids... but I know better than to underestimate people because of age and size. Doubtless you fools are special if you haven't been driven mad by the darkness yet." His grin showed off his sharp fangs for added evil points.

"Who are you?!" Asuna demanded, curling her hand into a fist.

"Please, let go of Rokugou-san!" Negi immediately wanted to diffuse the situation.

"Unhand Rokugou RIGHT NOW, you twisted psychopath!" Becky shouted at the figure above, waving her hands furiously.

"I think you have a damsel-in-distress complex," Ichijou randomly pointed out.

"Huh?" The man blinked, confused by that statement for a moment before he looked at Rokugou, looking at him through half-pleading, half curious eyes. "Ah, that. Oldest trick in the book. Kidnap a cute damsel, the heroes show up faster than demons at an 'All-Humans-You-Can-Eat' Buffet... even if they aren't even AWARE there's a damsel to be rescued! Isn't that epic? Indeed, kidnapping her allowed me to assess just who would stand in my way. I've already seen two side shows, you fools must be the main attraction then?" Man, nice way to say "I just randomly kidnapped somebody to see who'd show up".

"That makes you the darkness Konoka-san and Setsuna-san met earlier..." Negi hissed. The figure made a slow swiping motion with his hand, and at once darkness swirled around the clocks, making the Amazing Arena even more dark and gloomy than it was before. With that, he introduced himself. "I am... Cygnus, the Bedeviled Swan King."

Only now did Negi really feel the boy's powers, and they were, in a word, suffocating. He nearly had to clutch his chest from the dark aura that the boy exuded, and it appears it had nearly the same effect on everyone else, except for Ichijou, who just stared mutely. Despite this, both he and Asuna tensed, ready for a battle with this sinister foe. Cygnus continued, "Darkness... is the heart's true essence. It is with that darkness I will paint the world black."

"W-why is he so scary?!" Becky shivered.

Despite Cygnus's powers, fear was the furthest thing from Negi's mind. Rather, a different thought approached his mind. "Are you the one who stole the Star Crystal?"

"Star Crystal...?" Cygnus said slowly. "What's that?" However, the Devil's Swan was quick on the uptake. "If there has been a wielder of the darkness you have fought with in the past, then I've no association with them—I'm _greater_." He smiled. "LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT'S DONE! _SUBMIT_!" He began to laugh maniacally as the darkness around the room began to swirl wildly.

"We have no choice now... it's time to fight!" Asuna said. "Negi!"

"Okay..." Negi answered, preparing his staff.

"Hey wait!" Becky interjected.

"Becky-san?"

"You did th-that pactio thing with me too, right? I want to fight this creep too!" She said.

"B-but?!" Negi began, worried about the danger Becky would get herself into.

"I don't care! YOU DRAGGED ME HERE, I MIGHT AS WELL DO MY PART!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Negi responded, stiffening as if he just got punished. However, he took a short look at Ichijou. "What about Ichijou-san?"

"She's battle-ready," Becky muttered. To accentuate the point, Ichijou gave a thumbs-up. "Trust me."

"Fine," Negi prepared the staff, letting it float in front of him as he prepared the spell to draw out his partner's latent abilities. He hoped that the four of them could stand a chance... "Partner: Kagurazaka Asuna; Miyamoto Rebecca..." The two girls felt like something pin-pricked their souls. Their bodies began to glow, and as well both began to float towards Negi. "Show me the powers within you!" Two magic spheres, lined with ancient text, floated from the girls and combined in front of Negi, producing one large one. He reached his hand out, inserting it into the sphere's only hole facing him. "Contract Activate!" He pulled two cards, one for each girl. The energy being given to them from the process was so much that moans escaped them as he pulled out the cards.

Asuna's form changed. She was now wearing upper body armor, her shoes were now metallic stockings, and she was carrying a really big sword. "Whoo hoo!" She cheered. "Full power!"

Becky's form changed as well. Gone was her simple lab coat, replaced now by a brighter one, along with white gloves with ornate seals on the back. "Uhh..." She trailed off, but began again. "I feel... stronger, but..."

"YES! Both rare armor cards!" Kamo cheered. "We can stand a better chance now!"

"Ummm... no time for that," Ichijou pointed at a blast of darkness heading towards them. Before anyone had time to panic, though, the strange girl aimed her arm, and it immediately became a rocket-launcher like device. A powerful rocket shot out, negating the rushing darkness with a small but powerful blast. Ichijou ignored the shocked faces of Negi and Asuna as she went back to normal.

"Told you," Becky muttered.

"Are you clowns _done_ yet with your Sailor Moon transformations?" Cygnus raised an eyebrow. He went back to grinning though, as he spotted something. "Oh ho, a shadow returns to me!" A strange, swirling darkness circled around their shadows—as dim as the place was, somehow they could still see it. It swirled around a bit before finally settling near Negi's shadow, and, much to their shock, the strange shadow _devoured_ it.

Negi's shadow seemed mutated, as if it were a more crystalline, chaotic version of himself, and no longer under his control.

"How about a _dance of darkness_ then?" Cygnus grinned, baring his teeth. He began making grand hand motions, as if he were conducting an orchestra. "It's like conducting a symphony..." The shadow attached to Negi began to do the same thing.

Negi faintly felt darkness in his own heart. _A slower possession spell._ He had to move fast.

It looks like the girls had the same idea. As he flew forward on his staff, the girls brung up the rear. Negi immediately aimed a hand at the boy, preparing a spell. "Tel ma... AMORIS!" A flurry of magic arrows shot towards Cygnus, but the boy disappeared in a flash of smoke, although some small shape appeared to be guarding Rokugou. The blasts sailed harmlessly out of sight.

"I think you should watch where you aim," Cygnus slowly reappeared growing and extending his arms before taking a swat at the group of four. Despite his sneak attack, the four heroes used successful evasion maneuvers. The boy crawled around the girls as a shadow, his haunting voice echoing from below them. "If you hit Rokugou, she'd feel betrayed and hurt, and I would be _really angry_..." When he rose up from the shadows, Asuna was the first to counter, taking a wide sweep with her sword. He gracefully dodged, seeming to slide across the ground without moving his feet.

"I'm already really angry!" Becky snarled. She tested out the first of her newfound powers by clapping her hands and pressing down on the ground. A circle with arcane symbols formed, and massive parts of the earth rose up, jutting like deadly spikes in a 2-D platformer. Cygnus was forced to skate backwards, right into another rocket attack from Ichijou. However, just when the rocket was about to blast him to smithereens, he disappeared once more.

"Heheh," Cygnus reappeared in a swirl of darkness, once again dodging a swipe from Asuna's mighty sword. The bad news was Negi clipping him by surprise with a shot of lightning magic. "Curse you!" The boy slid backwards on his back, recovering midway to slide on his feet. To make matters worse the seemingly emotionless Ichijou was already in his face again, and he had to dodge more of her random, madcap weapons. Finally seeing an opening, he shot the floor below the group with a blast of darkness, forcing them to scatter. Cygnus took on a dark, swan-like form, moving erratically until he reappeared on a wall. He leered down at Negi. Using a slow, harsh voice, he snickered. "So, how's that darkness coming? Let it possess your heart yet?"

Negi hadn't been fighting as vigorously as the girls had, mainly because he had been mentally fighting off the shadow. However, he had also been storing energy for a counter spell. "Not quite," he smirked. "Ras tel, ma scir, magister..." He focused his magic strength, with his staff glowing in front of him. He muttered this next part in latin. "**O Spirits, hear my call. Draw the shadows to the light, and separate light from darkness**. Tel ma... AMORIS!" Negi's un-shadow contorted a bit as a flash of light expelled it from its flat state, taking form in the third dimension on plain sight.

"Whoa..." Cygnus blinked, quite amazed at the boy's power. "Not bad, not bad at all!" He jumped further out of the fray. "You won't mind if I sidestep this and see how you do..." He decided to let the shadow spirit do its thing.

The spirit, a twisted, crystalline clone of Negi, glowered at the group with strange, yellow-and-green eyes before producing a fake staff and lunging at Negi.

Asuna would have none of it. She whirled her massive sword, and the spirit crashed into at least five feet of massive, deadly steel. "Try THAT for size!" She boasted. It tumbled away, almost melting into nasty giblets.

It wasn't done yet. In a grotesque fashion of recovery, its head lifted up, and the rest of its body spun back into form. It then rushed Asuna and smashed into her with a crystalline elbow, knocking her away.

"Asuna-san!" Negi yelled out. The shadow clone immediately diverted its attention to Negi and dived towards him.

"BIG BRO!" Kamo warned for about the third time. Negi easily dodged his fake's slam into the ground as a result.

"Bastard!" Becky shot at the thing. "Take this!" The second functionality of Becky's armor card—she produced two small test tubes with two unmixed liquids in both. She shook them furiously before lobbing them at the shadow. By the time they were close enough, the shadow was eating two massive explosions. "Hehe!"

The creature reformed, however it was a good deal slower and more ragged.

"It's getting weaker... keep it up!" Asuna noted, recovering from her hit. She rushed towards the creature, and with her might, chucked her sword up, catching the fake Negi in its whirling pain. "AETHER!" She slammed the sword down on it, crashing it into the floor. It nearly broke, barely even reforming correctly.

It lifted a finger.

"WAH!" Asuna dodged a very quick lightning bolt.

"EEP!" Becky dodged another, but in the process fell flat on her face. "GECK!"

"Oh dear," Ichijou deadpanned as she sidestepped the move and accidentally showed off her panties to the real Negi in a Ken Akamatsu-like fashion ("Hey, cut that out!" Negi complained). "We should finish this." In one swift, ninja-like movement, the girl dashed by Becky and slung some unknown object, shattering upon contact with the fake Negi and freezing it. Becky wasn't sure if one of her vials was swiped or Ichijou used the move on her own. She's weird like that... "Negi."

Negi got the message and pointed his staff at his frozen double. Focusing his powers, he bellowed "Ras tel... ma scir.. magister... **Weighted Light, Travel. Go beyond the door and send it far away!** TEL MA... AMORIS!" A bright light consumed the creature, wiping it out of existence. What was left in its place was a strange red jewel.

"Another... jewel?" Negi reached out and grabbed it. He nearly stopped as he heard a slow clap.

"Not bad," Cygnus announced, swiveling around from his perched, disappearing, then swiveling back into view in front of the four of them, Rokugou at his side. "I think I'll let you keep that jewel for now." _As long as _he_ doesn't get it_, he added silently. "I'll be taking it back of course when I need it. Rule of villainy says why do all the work when the good guys will willingly do it for you? Especially amusing when they're little brats."

"_Can it_," Asuna snapped. "What do you want?!"

"Chaos. Disorder. Anything that interests me or fuels the darkness. Oh, and your names would help. Calling you 'brats' gets old. Besides, I gave you mine."

"Negi Springfield," The boy said his name without hesitation, his staff still trained in battle position.

"Rebecca Miyamoto! LET ROKUGOU GO RIGHT NOW!" She screeched, preparing to unleash hell on the dark boy.

"Asuna Kagurazaka." Asuna stared at Cygnus, her face conveying Serious Business (tm).

"Ichijou." Ichijou just stared mutely.

Cygnus laughed. "You've got my attention, Negi Springfield! Rebecca Miyamoto! And your female pedophile followers!" Asuna puffed her face in anger and let a vein pop at those words. "Let's see how long you can keep it!" He swirled into darkness, taking Rokugou with him.

"ROKUGOU!" Becky screeched.

"She will be returned to you momentarily, when I'm more comfortable in your world... until then, TOODLES!" And with that, Cygnus and the darkness disappeared, feeling mighty confident in the boost to his "evil-o-meter" (Hey, did you know you also got mega points on the douch— "YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!")

There was a strange silence, as Negi held the strange jewel in his hand. "This begins... a whole new set of problems, doesn't it?" He softly asked the rhetorical question, only to get nods of agreement from the girls.

You got that right. With Cygnus's motives not entirely making sense, with an entirely new adventure right between his investigation of the Star Crystal, you can bet Negi's plate is full! But at least now he has more help... or is that the only help he's getting?

Tune in next time!

&.!?

"Oh hey everybody! I'm Himeko, and I can't wait for my starring role in the next episode! But I'm kinda sad, because Becky's been having fun with this new child teacher and is leaving me out of it! Next time's gonna be awesome, though, so stick around for it! Next time on Scheme!? Final Mix: "Friday Night Party Mahora's!" By Himeko. Now with more parties and less spoilers! MAHOOOOOO!"

(Still going at it weekly! Enjoy the party, and tune in next time to hear Rokugou say, "Please be gentle!" -shifty eye movement- Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome.)


	4. Friday Night Party at Mahoras! By Himeko

**Scheme!?**

**Chapter 3: "Friday Night Party at Mahora's!" By Himeko**

A swirl of darkness.

It seemed somewhat out of place in such a calm and serene flower garden, but apparently that swirl of darkness didn't care. It had a job to do, and that was to pave Cygnus and Rokugou's entryway into this dimension. Which it did unceremoniously I might add.

A flap of wings marked Cygnus's safe landing, with Rokugou wrapped in his arms. Quite a beautiful scene if they were lovers in a romance, huh? But alas, one is a self-professed crazed villain and the other is a meek girl caught in the middle of a fight nobody knows who started. But enough about that, we turn to Cygnus's thoughts. _You know, why don't I turn this goal of getting home into something interesting... it's gonna be a while before my powers recharge completely, and this girl in my grasp is cute, so..._ He turned to the outside world, speaking to Rokugou. "So I guess we're here, huh? Back in your world..." Cygnus noticed the fearful eyes she was giving him.

"Please... be gentle..." The girl's face was red. "I heard it can hurt..."

"Eh?" Cygnus didn't get it. Then he saw where his hands were, and the position they were in.

He got it, alright, and he didn't like it.

He backed away so fast it was like he teleported, which he probably did. Waving his arms frantically, he bellowed in heated denial, "WHAT?! NO. NO! I wasn't going to do that, I swear!"

"You weren't?" Her face was slightly less red. A small smile returned to her face. "Well that's good."

"I'd say so too. Otherwise I'd have to castrate him." A voice snidely added. Rokugou looked to her left. There stood a girl that looked around Becky's age, her long blonde hair blowing in the wind. She was also decked in a Mahora uniform, so Rokugou figured she went here as well. A taller green-haired girl, more mechanical than human, stood by her side, eyes gazing at the two of them. The shorter blond continued to speak. "I'd have to ask just what are you doing, but then you decided to make it quite obvious, lowly pervert."

"Awah?! B-b-but that's totally—" The blue-haired girl began to stutter, but Cygnus finished that thought for her.

"Tch, how about 'no'," Cygnus stomped back towards the girl until he was beside Rokugou again. "I was trying not to get eviscerated by an angry brat, and as luck would have it, we kinda landed in a less-than-wholesome manner."

Evangeline A. K McDowell had to laugh at that. "Oh, is that it?" The jovial grin faded, however, and she was back to business. "In all seriousness, what are you REALLY doing here?"

The dark boy paused for a moment. He then answered, "I'm on a hunt. I'm looking for a lot of things."

"Like bondage hentai?" Evangeline suddenly gained her smirk back.

"NO," Cygnus pointed an angry finger at her, much to the vampire's amusement.

"Evangeline!" The girl heard that annoying, reprimanding voice yet again. She looked past Cygnus to see a grizzled middle-aged man in a suit coming towards them. He seemed to have a relaxed smile, though, which meant he was probably going to follow up with an annoying suggestion. "You should probably lighten up on our otherworldly guest, at least until he answers a few questions..." Just like she thought.

"Takamichi," Evangeline greeted in annoyance.

"Questions?" Cygnus leered at this newcomer. "What exactly would I know?"

"It was said that a swan, likely a youkai, appeared before the mage council just before the Star Crystal was stolen." Takamichi let his ring appear, and it glistened almost threateningly. "Swan demons are kinda rare, so you might know something."

"I'm unaware of the existence of any swan demon but myself," Cygnus muttered. "As for this Star Crystal... Some brats I just fought mentioned it, but I have no idea of its existence."

"Huh?" Rokugou looked between the three of them, completely lost on what was going on.

"Looks like you ran into Negi-kun. You chose a fine time to start challenging Negi and his friends. Your powers seemed to have scared away the darkness that was already plaguing us. Not lying, are ya?" Takamichi calmly raised an eyebrow.

"Don't have a reason to," Cygnus shrugged.

"Master," Chachamaru, the robotic girl, spoke for the first time. "Body signals show he's telling the truth."

"And here I thought you were evil," Evangeline huffed. "Some villain _you_ are." She added that last line with a smirk.

Cygnus furiously whipped his finger out, threatening to expose his thumb print to Evangeline, but Takamichi interrupted his rage. "Since you're making your own splash, and somebody else already has dibs on bringing you down, I'll just sit this one out."

"You're okay with this?" Cygnus raised an eyebrow. "Though I'm curious on who this 'someone else' is. I've got my suspicions..."

"Heh, figure it out yourself," Evangeline added. "You can consider your actions as 'training' that boy. But know if you act too out of line, we'll be on you like hell itself."

"Even knowing what I'm up to?" Cygnus was suspicious that he was being let off the hook by two of the stronger people on campus, if his generic "detect power levels" aura was correct.

"You won't let us down, will you?" Takamichi asked, a small smile on his face.

With that, Cygnus smirked. Taking a large, sweeping bow, he said, "You have my word." However, he looked at Rokugou, and said, "Would you guys do the honor of taking her back to her friends? I can't do that right now."

"Count me out, I'm not a friendly type," Evangeline waved him off. "Chachamaru, let's go."

The obedient robot spoke for the second time. "Yes, Master." She followed Evangeline as they walked off back towards their cottage.

"Leave it to me then," Takamichi said.

Cygnus nodded, and turned to leave, however, that was quickly interrupted when he heard "—wait!" He turned around to see a flustered Rokugou shyly pressing her fingers. "Umm, you aren't totally gone yet, are you?"

"You ain't seen the last of me," Cygnus grinned. "Not by a long shot."

"It was nice of you to protect me and stuff. M-maybe we could meet again, even though you're not a villain, just a bondage hentai."

Cygnus crashed. Amid Takamichi's laughter, he reached the obvious conclusion that whatever he did in regards to Rokugou would probably not end well.

* * *

We take a break from the enigmatic but bumbling dark boy to focus on an entirely different subject.

The Himeko.

Our subject, Himeko Katagiri, was a legendary fool amongst her peers back in her home habitat, the Peach Moon Academy. The Himeko would easily float around her old habitat, easily amused and playful with her friends and then-new-arrival Becky.

But now, in this strange new environment, Himeko wasn't quite sure what to do. It didn't matter that she was already entirely lost, or the fact that she was separated from her friends. What mattered now was navigating this strange new place.

Classes had let up rather quickly. Miyako, Rei, and Rokugou had high-tailed it earlier to follow some of the resident girls, and nobody had a clue where Ichijou went. As for Kurumi and Mesousa, well... they kinda faded into obscurity. So that left just her, unfortunately too clueless as to wonder just which way she had to go. By sheer blink luck, however, or maybe just for the convenience for this story, she found her way here.

"Here" was the dormitory for most of 3-A, a stout building done well with a red rooftop. But that kind of thing does not concern Himeko. Oh nooo. The girl was hungry, and as well dazed and confused. She hoped to chaos that the place she was walking into had a restaurant, or at least a kind soul that knew how to cook crabs. The Himeko loves crabs, and can make out their scent from over two miles away depending on the strength of the scent. Speaking of such, she smelled the air much like an animal, hoping to catch the scent of something good.

She wandered inside. No sign of any kind of restaurant. Bummer. She sighed in hungry defeat. However, despite being a fool she knows enough that this is the living area, and it would probably be the best place to spend the night after getting something to eat.

The Himeko was about to step outside again when she noticed a curious thing: stepping towards her was none other than Rokugou. She hadn't seen the other blue-haired girl since that afternoon they bombarded the class earlier that day. "Oh, Rokugou-san!" She called out ecstatically. "Where have you been? I've been so lonely!"

Rokugou stepped calmly and wearily towards her. Having just gotten back from what was a rather wild ride, she almost missed Himeko calling out to her. Unsure how to respond to her statement though, she blinked. Himeko could inspire dangerous thoughts sometimes. She did the wise thing when dealing with wild Himeko and decided to answer her this-time-logical question. "Uhhh... it's a long and strange story..." She began to blush.

The Himeko may be a foolish species, but on rare occasions she would show rather sharp insight. This was one of those times, "Did something omega _romantic_ or _cool_ happen? You gotta tell me!" The Himeko was rather persistent in her thirst for interesting tales. If the nice girl Rokugou wanted to keep it a secret, she stood no chance.

"O-okay..." She sighed. Even in her nice state and the fact that this was Himeko they were talking about, the paler-blue-haired girl wasn't sure if she'd believe it. She took a deep breath and began. "Well, Rei-san, Miyako-san and I went to a chupacabra club with some of the girls in this school. We thought we found a chupacabra, but it turned out we didn't find anything... but then I got lost. Some... portal pulled me into another dimension."

"OOOOO!" Himeko interrupted. "That's amazing!" But something turned in that empty head of hers. "But wait, how are you back here?"

"Please let me finish!" Rokugou pleaded. Himeko settled down just long enough for her to continue. "Well, then I met a swan."

"A swan?" Her loose "ahoge" formed a question mark.

"Well, a boy with a swan. He talked about darkness a lot. Then a giant robotic dog attacked us," Rokugou recalled the events of her adventures with Cygnus in chibi-fied clarity, but Himeko's imagination depicted the events quite differently. For one thing, she kept thinking that the swan and dog were Godzilla-sized machines. "Cygnus-san saved me, even though he said he was a villain. He tied me up and ran around a lot of places looking for some kind of jewel. Eventually he picked a fight with the other child teacher before leaving me with some of the school staff."

"Wow!" Himeko blinked, not sure of what to make of the story. She remembered a few times Rei deceived her with some ghost stories... but this was Rokugou! Even though the story was truly strange, would Rokugou really lie?

What's this? Himeko picked up a scent. A wonderful aroma that smelled like her favorite food. "I smell wonderful crab, maho!" She practically floated, allowing her nose (and ahoge) to guide her. "I'll bug ya later, Rokugou-san!" The pig-tailed girl only stared as Himeko merrily floated away, the great sensation of crab alluring her.

Rokugou stared in her direction for a moment, only to hear yet another voice call out to her. "Rokugou!" She perked up a bit before turning to see a worried Becky running towards her. "Are you all right?! How'd you get back?! Did Cygnus do anything to you?!" Negi, with Kamo sitting on top of his head, was right behind her.

"I'm fine, Becky-san," The girl answered. "I was brought back here by one of the teachers."

Negi stepped up. "I bet it was Takamichi! He's always been great help! Though I wonder why he's stepped back..." Negi chalked THAT fact as part of the mysterious "setup". But another concern crossed his mind. "Rokugou-san... did you talk with anyone else since returning here?"

Rokugou thought for a moment. For the most part she didn't do much talking until she met Himeko... "Well..." She began.

"MAHOOOOOOO!" It looked like Himeko found the jackpot.

"Rokugou... d-don't tell me you... talked to Himeko..." Becky said weakly.

"Himeko-san?" Negi blinked.

"Your secret's dead if she finds out," Becky sighed in defeat. "She's such a fool she wouldn't know a secret if it slapped her."

"Oh no..." Negi gripped his face, worried about his secret being discovered... again.

"I did... but then she smelled somebody making crab..." Rokugou answered. "I don't think she was paying attention..." She sighed. "Why, what's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing!" Negi smiled nervously, trying his best to cover up and prevent Rokugou from further delving into his secret. "Nothing at all!"

"It's not like Negi's a mage or anything!" Kamo-kun suddenly interjected in the worst attempt ever to ward Rokugou off. Becky introduced her face to her palm.

"Kamo-kun?!" Negi flailed.

She didn't miss a beat. "Ah! Is that why Cygnus-san fought both of you?" Rokugou concluded. "He mentioned to me that he wanted to see if anyone was strong enough to stand a chance against him..."

"Is that so..." Kamo rubbed his tiny chin.

"Rokugou-san, why don't we discuss these matters in a more comfortable place? Besides you and your friends need to pick out dorms to stay in while you're here." Negi said politely.

"Okay." Rokugou nodded.

"That's good..." Becky yawned. "I'm getting tired."

Bad news for Becky: the night is still young. And it wants to party.

* * *

Nodoka sighed. It was one of those loud Friday nights where EVERYBODY was up to something, and half of it was no good. The girl somberly made her way up to her room before she heard her name called. "Oh Nodokaaaa!"

The girl swirled around to find, of all people, Haruna Saotome, coming up the stairs behind her. "Haruna-san?" Nodoka asked. "What is it?"

"I've got good news and bad news, ya know," Haruna said, slipping her hand around her friend's shoulders. "C'mon, head to my room. Ku Fei's too busy hanging out with Chao-san to bother us." Nodoka grew used to the shady feeling that invaded her every time Haruna talked to her alone. Usually Yue's sensibility reigned her in, but the meek Nodoka was no match for Haruna's dark and evil perver— "Get on with it, please." Oh, right. Well anyway, Haruna softly guided Nodoka to her room before sitting her down.

"Haruna-san, what about Yue?" Nodoka asked.

"There needs to be a good time to let her in, but unfortunately not yet," Haruna wagged her finger. "I promise she'll be in on it when a good opportunity comes up. But first... about you. I heard you managed to kiss sensei."

"What?!" The girl jumped back, completely shocked at Haruna's knowledge. "W-w-w-where did you hear such a thing?!"

"Furthermore, I heard you got a PACTIO from Negi-sensei, too." Haruna knew she struck gold when Nodoka made a face much like one would when being sniped and nearly fainted right on the spot. "Oh don't worry, Nodoka. The secret's safe with me... and most of our newcomers."

"I knew something was off today!" Nodoka suddenly stood up. "Shichimi-san mentioned something about being forced to look the other way today, and I was wondering what she was talking about! Now I know..."

"So that explains what the crazy frog was talking about, too," Haruna muttered. "But enough about that! While it's good news that I can join in on your magic fun, I've got some bad news as well. You know the new tiny teacher, right?"

"Miyamoto-sensei?" Nodoka asked.

"She and Negi have massive chemistry together, I can feel it!" Haruna pumped her fist. Her voice was serious despite the massive grin on her face. "Nodoka, if you're going to stake your claim on Negi-sensei, you need to act much stronger than you are now!" Nodoka swallowed as Haruna continued. "'Becky', as her underlings call her, is much closer in age and experience than we are. She'll have an easier time than the rest of the class combined!"

Nodoka gasped in shock, but quickly closed her mouth when she realized she was merely falling for the hype. She slowly stood up. "Why don't we talk to sensei right now?" She asked demurely.

Haruna laughed. "Atta girl! I don't know where he is right now, we went looking for a newcomer that disappeared, but he might've stopped by Asuna's dorm." Nodoka immediately stepped up and bolted out the door and towards Negi's room.

With her gone, Haruna smiled softly. "I promise you won't get left out, Yue."

--

Yue, listening in on another peephole, listened in on that conversation. Puffing up her cheeks, she muttered to herself, "I'm counting on you then, Haruna."

* * *

"Makie-san?" The regal Ayaka asked.

"Yes?" Makie stopped her rather fascinating gymnast stretches, turning her attention to her roommate.

"Who is this plain character huddled in the corner?" Ayaka asked, pointing towards a sulking girl, singing a broken lullaby to herself. Makie could practically see the blue lines of depression on the girl.

"Ah, that's Kurumi-san!" Makie smiled. But that smile disappeared when she faced Ayaka again. "She doesn't like it when she's called plain though."

"Why did you not inform me of her arrival?" Ayaka asked, slightly irritated with Makie for about the thousandth time. "Or the fact that she dislikes being called plain?"

"I-I-" Makie began.

"Makie-san!" Ayaka commandeered. "It was quite rude of you to bring a guest and not inform me of what was going on, and furthermore you fail to inform me of her dislikes, in which we have _both_ already committed!"

"I... I fail?" Makie's eyes were watery with tears.

"Yes. You, Makie Sasaki, fail at life!" Ayaka pointed dramatically.

Even though she saw it coming a mile away, Makie still froze from the absolute shock.

Strangely enough, Kurumi had enough of her own depressed state. She got up, walked over, and patted Makie's back to cheer her up. "Don't worry, she's not being mean on purpose!"

Always being the diplomat, Ayaka gave an apologetic bow. "Excuse my manners, Momose-san. Please, feel free to stay with us and use one of my Negi-sensei sleeping bags."

Kurumi took the offering. "Thanks," Unfortunately, she then noticed the insane amount of Negi paraphernalia around the room. "Uhh..." Kurumi Momose never felt so comfortable yet so out of place at the same time.

* * *

"Urgh... even MORE idiots today," Chisame muttered as she set away her laptop and began to boot up her desktop. "Why did Negi-sensei have to pull in that one teacher, knowing she had extra baggage?"

"I'm pretty sure he didn't expect it either," Satomi Hakase was hacking away at her own desktop, no doubt doing some research. "But those new students are interesting, to say the least."

"I don't appreciate being called 'extra baggage'. That really pisses me off!" Chisame nearly jumped as she turned to see the source of that voice. Miyako had barged in, apparently overhearing her conversation by some grace of luck.

"Who the hell are you to randomly barge into our room?!" Chisame countered, shocked at the gall of the girl.

"Now now," Satomi tried to placate the future warring girls. She then turned to the newcomer. "I'd say that there's a 99.99 chance that you're looking for a place to stay, right?"

"How would you know?" Miyako blinked.

"What else would you be doing right now?" The scientific girl coolly asked.

"Guess you're right." Miyako looked around the room. Simple enough. Dark, full of computers... she rather liked it. "Can I stay here?"

Hakase looked at her roommate for the final verdict.

"You're less of an idiot than the others, so I guess you can stay," Chisame reluctantly admitted.

"You're not that bad yourself," Miyako part countered, part complemented. Her forehead shone ominously. Chisame and Miyako immediately got into a fierce staring contest which involved eyebeams of fiery death.

* * *

Meanwhile, the ever so pathetic Mesousa had once again found himself walking alone, the evening sun only adding to his eternal emo sorrow. Not even Kurumi was around to keep him company, so basically he was on his own on finding a place to stay.

He saw a few girls walk past, talking animatedly about some sports. "Um..." He tried to get their attention, but that endeavor failed. He sighed in defeat. As usual.

"Are you lost, rabbit-san?" Mesousa turned to see Ichijou standing there, calm and emotionless as usual.

"Ah... I don't have a place to stay..." Mesousa admitted weakly.

"You could stay with me," The girl offered.

"Really?" Mesousa was glad for the offer... but then he remembered who he was talking to. "Umm... where are you staying?"

"Plot device," Ichijou answered sagely.

"That doesn't make sense at all..." Mesousa moped.

"It makes better sense than the hotel fare, mya," Shichimi appeared on Ichijou's head. "How much money do you have?"

"50 yen..."

"Epic fail, mya," Shichimi added. "You need at least over nine thousand. You should be glad Ichijou-san is helping you, mya."

"I-I'm sorry," Mesousa bowed his head. He then straightened up and asked Ichijou, "Can I stay with you?"

"Sure. That will be ten thousand yen," Ichijou held out a hand.

"Why am I cursed?" Mesousa sobbed.

* * *

An all girls' dorm was either a pervert's heaven or a man's hell. Sometimes both.

To Cygnus, the middle option would be the most accurate.

While he liked girls, he was in the middle of a mission. The last thing he needed was distractions, temptations, and anyone attempting to mislabel him as a bondage pervert. Well, the last thing was kinda inevitable.

There was nary a soul outside the dorms on Friday night—a rarity and quite a blessed one, actually. He could easily do a scan for what he was looking for and get the hell out. Unfortunately life was never so easy. The Bedeviled Swan could note the smell of roses as a voice echoed in the night.

"Afternoon tea with a green wind. Hailing from the Country of Mist—Love and bravery's Ambassador of Friendship." A swirl of black rose petals danced in front of Cygnus. The boy turned around to see a pink-haired person, wearing a top hat, a cape, a white tuxedo, and a strange half-mask over his left eye. "They call me... the Black Rose Baron!" The person boomed his introduction.

Cygnus was not amused. "You are the worst freaking fruitcake I have ever seen!" He pointed an enraged finger at the Baron. "And what the hell are you doing near a girl's dorm, anyway?!"

The mysterious person put a hand on his top hat, probably to look badass. "I could ask you that very same question. For one seeking darkness you're awfully close to the light."

"I was told that the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes," Cygnus answered. "I just so happen to be seeking the shadows."

The Baron was quite amused that someone actually decided to match his word play. He laughed. "Not bad at all, swan of darkness!"

Cygnus's eyes went wide. _He knows what I am...?!_

"You, who have taken center stage in the darkness, will now face the next challenge from the light!" The Black Rose Baron, master of timing, ended his sentence just as a few girls noticed the commotion and looked outside. Cygnus cursed and turned to run, only to sense one of the seven shadows in its depths. Considering all the innocent bystanders in that building... the amount of casualties and chaos that would result would be epic... but not his style of evil. He grit his teeth in frustration.

The Baron seemed to know this, and smirked. "One who claims to be the darkness... are you evil enough to let things run their course?"

Cygnus snarled at the figure, looked back, and then turned to the Baron again, only to find him gone, leaving a swirl of black petals in his wake. Things were not looking good.

Time to play the card of chaos.

Swallowing all of his fears, the boy turned inside and began to sneak into the dorms from the back. It was his only shot.

Besides, something smelled wicked good in the room he was entering...

* * *

Ignoring the quiet chaos stirring about in the hallways, Mana Tatsumiya calmly cleaned her sniper rifle. She cast a long shadow to the setting sun. Close by, Zazie Rainyday was practicing her usual juggling tricks.

A strange shadow, crawling about nearby, began to swim towards Mana.

Mana reacted quickly. She aimed a pistol...

...she realized she couldn't shoot it on the floor, lest her bullets pierce the floor below and harm another classmate. That decision turned out to not matter anyway, because the shadow devoured Mana's own shadow in a matter of seconds.

When all was done, Mana found her shadow was now projecting a weasel-like character, with spur like boots and a fedora hat. The dark shadow gave a thumbs-up to the girl.

"This won't end well," Mana muttered.

"All's well that ends in a well," Zazie quipped.

"Two points." Mana thought that joke was awful.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

"You need to save some for me!" Ku Fei pouted as Himeko greedily enjoyed the crab-comboed meat buns.

"But they're so good! And there's plenty of them!" Himeko savored the delicious treats, much to the amusement of Chao and Satsuki and much to the chagrin of Ku Fei. "They taste so delicious! Maho maho maho maho mahooooo..."

"You're so amusing, Himeko!" Chao beamed.

"Hey, hey, Chao," Rei casually waved once she entered the room. "I take it Himeko found your crab recipe. I hope she's not causing a problem for you."

"Ni hao," Chao returned the greeting, both girls bowing down to each other. "She's not a bother at all."

"You two know each other?" Satsuki asked.

"We've been in contact for quite some time," Rei adjusted her glasses, a smirk on her face. "She was the one who told me Becky was coming here."

"Wha? You mean it wasn't Ichijou-san who guided us here?" Himeko asked between mouthfuls of food.

"Nope! Totally our idea!" Chao beamed.

"Sorry Himeko, I already call this room, so you can't stay here overnight." Rei said seriously.

"Awww," Himeko deflated, just enough for Ku Fei to snatch a few meat buns.

"But feel free to stop by for more meat buns!" Satsuki offered.

"YAAAAYY!" Himeko cheered.

"B-but that means _I_ don't get any meat buns when I visit!" Ku Fei complained, more out of worry about her favorite food source than dislike of Himeko. "She'll eat them all!"

"Aww, don't worry Ku Fei, she's not going to eat them all," Satsuki gently chided. As she went to go grab another meat bun, though, she found herself staring face-to-face with a dark-skinned boy, who was devouring the meat bun she was about to grab. She only stared blankly before she registered that the bun was in fact, being eaten by a _boy_ in the girl's dorm.

This boy took a moment before recognizing the fact that the girl had seen him. Once that happened however, he sat in silence as well.

They stared for about another five seconds before Satsuki screamed.

"AUUGH!" The scream caught Cygnus by surprise as well, and he jumped backwards into everyone else's view. Talk about the worst entrance ever.

"HOLY SNAP IT'S A BOY," Rei yelled before mentally chiding herself for sounding obnoxiously exaggerated.

"Oh shi—" Cygnus began. He couldn't fight these people because they had no magic affiliation with Negi or Becky, or at least to his knowledge... "I like girls, but this is too many at once! TOO MANY AT ONCE!"

"I won't allow any boys to prey on innocent maidens!" Ku Fei assumed a fighting stance. "I, Kuu Laozi, will show them no mercy!"

"I think Ku Fei's got the right idea," Chao followed Ku Fei's example.

Himeko was kind of stuck on what to do. On the one hand there was another boy here, and everyone wanted to fight him. And she didn't want to be left out of the fun. But... wasn't there a better idea? "Wow... I haven't seen a boy this dark before! Let's catch him!"

"Wait what?!" The dark boy did not like the sound of those unfortunate implications.

"CUE POKEMON BATTLE!" Himeko leapt into action, assuming a fighting stance right beside Ku Fei.

"Goddamn it..." Cygnus hissed through clenched teeth. Now we narrate Pokemon style.

Wild Cygnus appeared!

Go! Himeko! Ku Fei!

Enemy Cygnus used CONFUSE RAY!

Himeko is already confused!

Ku Fei used LOW KICK!

It's Super Effective!

Enemy Cygnus countered with CRUNCH!

It's not very effective...

Himeko is confused!

Himeko's power UNSTEADY GAIT allows her to increase evasion while confused!

Himeko used GIANT ENEMY CRAB BATTLE!

"Olioliolioliolioliolioliooooo!"

Enemy Cygnus is driven absolutely mad!

Enemy Cygnus countered with RIDGE RACER!

It's Super Effective! Himeko's weakpoint is struck for MASSIVE DAMAGE!

Himeko fainted!

Cygnus ran away!

The harried swan boy sprinted out of the room. _Looks like the chaos is inevitable.._. he thought. _But that doesn't mean I can't lure out the shadow_!

"Don't let him get away!" Ku Fei and Chao led the chase for the boy. Rei followed behind.

Satsuki looked down on the fallen Himeko, slight worry in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Maho?" Himeko stood up, and as if nothing happened, began her chase of Cygnus. She did give a small smile to Satsuki before leaving as a means of 'yes.'

* * *

"So that's your story," Rokugou said as Negi finished.

"Yes... Rokugou-san, please understand I need to keep this a secret," Negi said earnestly.

"I understand!"

"I hope Himeko forgot..." Becky murmured, still sleepy.

It was about now that Asuna arrived, Konoka following right behind her. "Negi, have you seen—" She spotted Rokugou sitting demurely nearby. "Oookay... telling us that Rokugou-san's safe and sound would've been nice..." She gave Negi a look.

"Well, I had to explain everything to Rokugou-san first," Negi said smoothly despite the nervous smile on his face. "My next move was to call anyone still searching for her. Honest!"

"Fine."

"That's okay, Negi-kun!" Konoka said. "I met Takamichi on the way back who told me Rokugou had come back, so I called everyone to return."

"I MISSED TAKAMICHI?!" Asuna grabbed Konoka by the shoulders.

Konoka nervously smiled. "Not my fault you weren't paying attention." This caused Asuna to sulk for a short moment.

However, that demeanor suddenly changed. "Whoo hoo!" Asuna cheered once she was back in the sanctuary of her dorm. "After all that chaos, it's Friday night! And you know what that means!"

"ZOMBIE RIDER!" Konoka cheered as she attacked the Playstation 2 console to begin the game.

"Spoil sport," Asuna muttered under her breath as she flopped down on the couch.

"HEY! THAT COULD BE MY FUTURE SLEEPING SPOT! GET OFF!" Becky complained.

"Becky-san, please leave Asuna-san alone. You won't like her when she's angry." Negi tried to placate the angry girl. "Don't worry, I'll find a better spot here for you to sleep."

Setsuna entered the dorm. "Excuse me," Setsuna said softly as she walked in. Setsuna turned to see Konoka already playing Asuna's game. "Ojou-sama..."

"Hey, Secchan! Play with me!" Konoka waved, happy to see her friend.

Hoping to the high heavens above that nobody interpreted that as innuendo, Setsuna nervously and politely declined. "I-I think I'll pass." She turned to Negi. "Negi-sensei, where are Miyamoto-san and Rokugou-san going to sleep tonight?"

Sudden epic timing kicked in as Nodoka stepped in. "Negi-sensei! E-excuse me!" Her hurried pace slowed to a nervous, shaky walk as she stepped in.

Becky eyed the newcomer with a part-curious, part-jaded eye. "Huh?" The older girl was shaking a bit as Becky scrutinized her. "Whaddya want."

"Uh umm..." Nodoka sashayed slightly. "I was wondering where all the new people were going to stay for the night, and since this room was getting crowded..."

"I'm going nowhere," Becky pouted, leaving no room for argument. Negi had to suppress every urge to call the girl cute right then and there.

"Ummm... I don't know where I'm staying yet," Rokugou said.

"Ah, Rokugou-san!" Nodoka saved face and spoke up. "You can stay with me and Yue-Yue then." Nodoka inwardly sighed at her screw up, while Becky subtly noticed her disappointment. Chalk that up for another question Negi was getting hit with tonight.

"Th-thanks!" After that quick and convenient setup, everyone was about to settle down when a nasty clatter sounded out in the hallways.

"What...?" Negi, Becky, and Rokugou took a look outside, only to see a dark blur streak by, followed by Ku Fei, Chao, and Himeko bringing up the rear. "What's going on?!"

"It's a boy! We're gonna catch it!" Ku Fei called back.

Rokugou recognized the blur. "Could it be... Cygnus-kun?"

Bad words to say. The word 'Cygnus' was all it took for Becky to see red. "Cygnus?! HOLY CRAP IT'S CYGNUS! QUICK, GET IN THE TRUCK!" The enraged girl took off after Himeko, hoping to potentially beat the crap out of a boy that dare kidnap one of her students.

"Cygnus-san... This could be bad." Negi turned to the others still inside. "Please stay here," He grabbed his staff and also joined in the mad pursuit.

Nodoka and Rokugou stared on, a bare whisper of "Cygnus-kun..." escaping Rokugou's lips.

* * *

"DAMMITDAMMITDAMMITDAMMIT!" Cygnus cursed like a sailor as the three ladies behind him began to pick up the pace. Things definitely weren't helping when the clown in the back was yelling "There's another boy in the girl's dorm!" He needed to get rid of them and fast.

He took a sprint towards the left and kept rounding as many corners as possible, trying his best to locate a vacant spot to where he could teleport. No dice so far—and it looked like the crowd chasing him was getting bigger. Random girls from around the dorm were now adding to the crowd out to put him on display at the zoo, and he could've sworn he had to dodge a poké ball or two.

He dashed towards a vacant stairwell. Finally! He mentally sighed. He took a running jump and phased out of solid existence. By the time the group of girls reached the stairwell, he was completely gone. Splitting up, they took different paths as to not let the strange boy escape.

Snickering, Cygnus reappeared at the bottom. He cockily rubbed his nose as he said, "Heh, not smart enough to catch me yet."

An interesting flicker caught his eye closer to the wall next to the stairs. Turning to examine it, he saw it was yet another rift... likely caused by those jewels. "Keep that spot in mind," He thought out loud.

"Cygnus-san!" The boy's attention was now on a new voice... one he recognized. He turned to see Negi and Becky there.

"Stop right there, dark boy!" Kamo boldly shouted, reappearing on Negi's head.

"Negi Springfield," Cygnus answered in a slow, harsh voice.

"YOU," Becky pointed an enraged finger at Cygnus. "You won't escape this time! Not after what you did to Rokugou!"

"Are you insinuation that I _did_ something to Rokugou?" Cygnus asked snidely.

"It's 'insinuating'," Negi corrected meekly.

"Ungah!" Cygnus cursed his mixed up tongue. "Anyway," his hands beckoned the two of them. "You're hunting the wrong target. By now shadow number two is gunning for you."

"Shadow...?" Negi blinked.

"Mahooooo!" Surprise Himeko attack from behind!

"GRRAAKK!" Cygnus nearly toppled from the girl tackling him.

"I got you now!" Himeko crowed. "If I catch you, I get more crab buns! More crab buns for meee!"

"Oh no you don't!" Cygnus twisted a bit before throwing her off...

...right into the portal behind him. She was sucked right in.

"HIMEKO!" Becky panicked.

"If you want to rescue her... _bring it_!" Cygnus curled his fist and snarled, as if issuing a challenge, and followed Himeko into the rift.

Negi and Becky didn't hesitate. They followed the boy into the dimensional portal.

As did another shadow. By now, its host's shadow was completely eclipsed by its will. Loading a sniper rifle, what used to be Mana Tatsumiya stepped in right behind them.

* * *

When the wild breathtaking ride was over, Negi and Becky found themselves staring at a wide city expanse. The city gave off a purplish-blue hue, but all the lights shined white. They were standing atop some airborne roads as well.

"This..." Negi began, mesmerized by the sights.

"Wow, check out the city nightlife! I could start a new casino business—" Kamo began, but Negi silenced him with a finger to his mouth.

"Umm, Kamo-kun, let's not begin scheming about things in dimensions that aren't ours, okay?" Negi asked.

"Himeko!" Becky spotted her some distance away, unconscious and muttering constant "mahos" under her breath. The blond girl rushed over to the girl, kneeling and trying to slap her awake. "Himeko! Snap out of it!"

"Negi Springfield!" The boy sharply turned to see Cygnus standing above, sneering at them with a wicked smile. "Are you prepared for the darkness?"

"Cygnus-san? What is the meaning of this?!" Negi shouted back.

"You can't have any sympathy for that which is the darkness... that is my burden alone." The smile faded from Cygnus's face. He reared a hand back. "Prove to me you can fight it!" He pushed forward, and a blast of darkness shot forward. Negi scrambled out of the way before the darkness could explode and render him kibbles and bits.

"He's obviously crazy!" Becky shouted, flailing her arms. "Negi! Let's use the contract!"

"Good idea!" Kamo agreed.

"Consider it done." Negi twirled his staff and prepared his magic. "Partner: Miyamoto Rebecca! Show me the power within you!" He quickly summoned the orb and grabbed the card inside. "Contract.. activate!" He pulled it out.

A puff of smoke.

Becky found herself as a small, white rabbit, as if she were in a tiny, cute costume. "WHAT IS THIS?!" She squeaked.

"Suka card," Kamo answered dejectedly. "You got jipped."

"Oh! Becky's so cute!" Himeko called from her position further away.

"SHUT UP!" Becky squeaked back at her.

The bad news is that it was rabbit season. A rifle focused on Becky's head.

Cygnus saw this and reacted first. "Watch out!" He bellowed. Unfortunately the fastest thing he could do was blast Becky out of harm's way.

And that's exactly what he did.

"WAAHHH!" The rabbit girl sailed away, landing with a faint plop right next to Himeko. That blast hurt quite a bit, although not as much as a sniper shot to the head would have. Becky did the only thing she could do. Cry. "Hau hau hau," she sobbed from the pain cutely.

"Becky... cry?" Himeko murmured. She looked at Cygnus. Disbelief and shock turned into quiet anger. "How... dare you make Becky cry..."

It seemed like Negi felt that same anger as well, as he pointed his staff angrily at the boy. "That was completely uncalled for, Cygnus-san." He said in a strained voice. Before he could do anything else though, he suddenly saw Himeko right beside him.

The goofy, idiotic persona of hers was completely gone. "Negi-sensei... lend me your strength."

"Himeko-san!?" Negi drew back in shock. Who was this person, and what had they done to Himeko? Was everyone from Peach Moon wrong about Himeko's true nature?

"Negi-sensei, please! I want to make him pay..." Fierce determination and a rare rage shone in her eyes.

"Big bro, the contract!" Kamo sprinted to the floor. With lightning speed he set up the circle, then turned to Himeko, launching a succinct explanation. "The pactio will help you unlock your own powers. Just kiss big bro in the circle!"

"Kamo-kun—!" Negi began, but Himeko's lips were pressed against his in an instant.

"Pactio!" He shouted, and a bright light shined. The three cards representing her pact flew out from the ground and disappeared into her body. With the deed done, the light was gone.

Negi turned to Cygnus. "Cygnus-san. Why did you do that?" He prepared his staff.

"It was either that or get sniped. Realize who your enemy is, fool!" Cygnus snarled, pointing over in the distance.

Negi looked over, and sure enough, there was a familiar sniper in the distance. "M-Mana-san..."

"She's got shadow problems," Cygnus announced. "I hope you and your new partner have what it takes to cure her... Settle your grudge against me later."

Negi silently agreed. Now was the time to deal with a new threat. "Partner: Katagiri Himeko," Negi held out his staff in front of him, glowing with ethereal power. Himeko floated gently until she was right beside him. "Show me the power within you!" The orb appeared in front of Himeko, the hole facing Negi. He reached for it. "Contract... Activate!" He pulled out the card, and a bright light flashed.

Her normal clothes were gone, replaced with a pink halter top, skirt, and white shoes. Himeko reached out and grabbed what looked like a giant key with a flowery hilt. The edge the prongs were facing away from looked rather sharp. "Key... blade," she murmured.

"KEYBLADE?!" Cygnus gasped like a bug about to be hit by Raid. Safe to say he quickly scampered away.

"This is her armor card!" Kamo said. "Huh, I wonder what's so special about it, though..."

"Play time's over," a chilling voice whispered. Negi felt, rather than saw, the scope of the sniper rifle aimed at him.

Before he could even react, though, a shot was already fired.

Himeko would have none of that. It was like teleportation: one moment she was simply beside Negi, the next moment she was right in front of the bullet, deflecting it back like a baseball bat. The pseudo Mana felt her own bullets. She fired again twice... three times. Himeko deflected the bullets back with lightning speed. The girl only let out a grunt of pain before standing up. "You clever little sneak." She hopped over a rail and landed on a large hoverbike, yellow and purple in design. It hovered into the view of the two of them. "How about a ride on the Marvelous Queen?"

"Return Mana-san, whoever you are!" Negi demanded.

"Can't even call it right? It's Fang the Sniper. Or Nack the Weasel, although I ain't lookin' too weasel-ish right now." She took aim again and fired. Both Negi and Himeko beat a hasty retreat.

"Negi-sensei, what do we do? She's not herself!" Himeko panted as they leapt over buildings, dodging bullets. She suddenly swung a hard left and deflected a random bullet aiming straight for Negi's head.

"I need to perform a spell when she's close enough in range..." Negi explained. Although he was kinda reeling from the serious nature, it was best that he didn't think about it and take advantage of it instead. "Can you get rid of her guns?"

"I'm on it!" Himeko slid to a stop while Negi rounded a corner nearby some windows. 'Fang' decided to attack Himeko directly first, putting away the sniper rifle and going for the more traditional guns, raining a hail of bullets against Himeko. The grounded girl back-flipped and cartwheeled out of harm's way. Taking advantage of a pause, Himeko hurled the Keyblade like a boomerang, the weapon sailing in the air until it struck the hovercraft.

"What!?" 'Fang' faltered, trying her best to keep hold of the bike.

Himeko wasn't done yet. Because the hunter was now close enough, the maho girl twirled in the air and landed on the bike. She took her mighty Keyblade and stabbed down into the hull. The front began to spark and short circult, leading to the inevitable crash and death of the Marvelous Queen. Old Himeko took this moment to celebrate with a "NYAH NYAH!" In 'Fang's' face before Serious Himeko took back over and forced herself to evacuate.

Both girls abandoned ship as the Marvelous Queen sank from the sky and crashed into a random building, exploding in the process.

"AIYAAH!" The look on Mana's face was priceless... at least, it would be if it were fully Mana.

Negi was prepared by now. "**O Spirits, hear my call. Draw the shadows to the light, and separate light from darkness.** Tel ma... AMORIS!" A flash of light, just like before, pierced Mana's un-shadow from below. The sniper girl fell unconscious, and the shadow toppled backwards into the third dimension.

Fang the shadow stood. "Hey, hey, we can talk about this, right?" It chuckled nervously as Negi walked in closer. "Right?" Negi came closer. "Maybe not." Fang pulled out a gun, aimed, and shot Negi directly in the forehead.

The good news was that it was only a pop gun, so Negi fell to the ground alive with a massive welt rather than dead.

The bad news (for Fang) was that Himeko didn't see that at first. "How DARE you!" Weapon ready, she lunged at the shadow and smash it straight in the gut with the Keyblade.

"Aigah!" Fang crashed into the ground. Seeing that hell hath no fury like a Himeko scorned, he quickly tried to explain himself. "I-I didn't k—" He began but unfortunately Himeko didn't hear him, she was too busy smashing his face in with a giant key.

Clutching his sore head and muttering a healing spell, Negi tried to stop Himeko's wild rage. "H-Himeko-san... I'm all right..." He chuckled nervously as she ignored him.

Cygnus reappeared from the shadows. Calmly moving Mana out of the way with his powers, he then faced the pathetic Fang shadow. "As amusing as this is, your time outside has ceased to be. That jewel inside you is mine."

An outstretched hand. "GLORIA EN OBSCURUM." He then began to curl that hand. "**O Darkness, answer me now. Draw in this evil, and crush it within you. Free all else to light.**" He pointed downward. "SUBMIT!"

As if she knew what was going on, Himeko drew back and let Cygnus's spell erase the panicking Fang out of existence. "Noo! I only got a fourth of an episode to my existennncee!" The shadow cried as it disappeared, leaving only the shining jewel in its place.

"Heheh," Cygnus grinned. "Now to claim that jewel..."

"I don't _think so_," The angry Himeko bellowed. She leapt up into the air and slammed down right where a teleporting Cygnus was just milliseconds before. "You made Becky cry, therefore you don't get anything!"

"Geez," Cygnus reappeared further away, snorting derisively. "You guys really are an uptight bunch!" He looked back to where the jewel was. "WHAT?!"

Himeko whirled back behind her. "Maho?"

"The jewel's gone!" Negi's eyes were wide with shock.

"Mahooo..." Himeko sank in depression. Negi did likewise. Whether Cygnus did or not, nobody cares.

"Wonder what that jewel's called..." Negi trailed off.

"It's called a Chaos Emerald!" Negi and Himeko looked up beyond the airborne street to see a familiar shadow. The spikes, the short body... it looked like the chupacabra! But why was it talking about a "Chaos Emerald"? "Jewels that store immense power! Even just one holds a lot of power, but if you gather seven of them, they can perform miracles!"

"Chaos... Emerald?" Cygnus whispered from his perch, his eyes on the shadow as much as Negi's was. "No wonder... such powers..." He stood up. "That so called chupacabra knows more about those jewels. If I can talk to him about those powers... I'll find that 'chupacabra' before they do!" A swirl of the swan guardian with him, and Cygnus disappeared into the night.

The figure was flipping the emerald he had in his clutches. "Sorry guys, I'll have to keep this one. Consider it insurance! Keep your eyes peeled for more, okay? Catch ya later!" In a flash the figure sped off, either oblivious to or ignoring Negi's cry of "WAIT!"

The boy sighed.

"Negi-sensei." Negi turned to see a now conscious and always serious Mana.

"Yes?" Negi blinked, nervous.

"Looks like this is the second time this week I've been possessed. Did you free me?"

"Uhhh..." Negi had a dilemma. On the one hand, he did want to tell Mana the truth, considering she seemed to have a vague knowledge of magic, much to his surprise. On the other hand, there was the problem with his identity as a mage...

Problems seem to solve themselves nowadays. For no reason at all, Motsu popped up on Mana's shoulder. "You know what you shouldn't say—" 'BLAM' "—AAAUUUGGGGHHH!" The frog thing crashed into the ground, a smoldering cork still on his head.

Mana casually put the smoking pop gun away. "Thanks anyway, Negi-sensei." And with that she left.

Negi sighed in relief. So distracted by Mana he was, that he nearly forgot Himeko's presence until she called out to him. "Negi-sensei."He snapped back to reality and turned to the girl, surprised yet again at her addressing him as 'Negi-sensei' instead of 'cute boy'. "So this is why you're so grown up in a cute boy's body... Listen," The armor card clad girl was still shockingly serious. She held out her 'Keyblade'. "This is about the only time you'll see me serious, so listen, okay? I know that I'm an idiot and probably going to be the newest member of the Baka Rangers, but I know that you have a lot on your plate, and that you also mean the best for Becky-san. So if you need any serious help from me," she dismissed the blade and leaned in close to the boy. "...don't be afraid to use those cards, okay?" She pecked him on the forehead. "Now I see why Becky likes you."

Negi's mouth hung open in silent response. Words failed him.

Words failed everyone else, but not silently. "D-D-D-D-D-DAH!" Miyako sputtered, seeing everything.

"H-HIMEKO... SERIOUS!?" Becky pointed in shock. She, Miyako, and Ichijou had appeared within Stardust Speedway as well.

"It could be a side effect of the card," Ichijou offered sagely.

Just as she said this, the card ran out, and Himeko was back to her old self. "Maho?" She blinked, confused.

"Himeko-san?" Negi asked.

"MAHOOOO! Oh cute little teacher!" She squeezed him in an impressive hug. "It's such a shame, but I think you belong with Becky-san." Becky's jaw dropped at that, but her stuttering attempts at a denial were ignored.

"Uh, ummm Himeko-san? Can we get back to the dorms first?" Negi asked as his life was happily squeezed away.

"Sure!" She let go, and winking at him, marched off. The others, now even with Negi, wearily followed her back home. Negi had to ponder at that wink, wondering if the serious Bizarro Himeko wasn't as deep down as everybody thought.

* * *

"So... this is a 'Chaos Emerald' he was talking about," Becky said, scrutinizing the red jewel she had in her hand. "Apparently it has massive powers." The gang of Negi's Ministra Magi had gathered back into the team room in the dead of night, the nearly full moon and the jewel before them providing enough light. For the first time since this incident began, Nodoka and Himeko were there as well.

"That Cygnus creep looks like he's after them, too," Asuna bellowed. "AND the chupacabra! We have to catch that thing AND get the Chaos Emeralds before it's too late!"

"Cygnus?" Rei blinked, adjusting her glasses. "Is he the guy everybody was chasing around earlier?"

Rokugou sunk in her seat, failing to hide the apparent blush in her cheeks.

Too bad Haruna noticed. "Oh ho, I smell the sweet stench of LOVE coming from THAT DIRECTION," She covered her face evilly and pointed straight at Rokugou, causing the blue haired girl's blush to deepen.

Konoka followed up with her usual dish of cheery insidiousness. "Hey, Rokugou-san. Why's your face red?"

"Judging by that, I'd say I'm right." Rei gave a self-satisfied smirk.

"N-no reason!" Rokugou gave a heated denial.

"You're joking..." Becky started, but then her anger got the better of her, and the tiny teacher flew into a furious tirade. "Cygnus has to be stopped! Who knows what evil things he might do to Rokugou! Next time we find him, we burn him at the stake! WHO'S WITH ME?!" She pumped a fist into the air.

"Yeah!" The twins Fuuka and Fumika cheered, but they were agreeing more out of amusement at Becky than genuine bloodlust of Cygnus.

"Now, now, Becky," Negi chuckled nervously. "Let's not rush for an attack just yet..." Negi turned over to Rokugou. "But... Rokugou-san. Please be aware that Cygnus may come for you again." He then turned to everyone. "It seems like Cygnus only attacks us if we're competing for the same emerald." _Or Rokugou is concerned_, most added in their thoughts, but that was best left unsaid. "So unless you have a Chaos Emerald, do not engage him. I don't think he'll be too much of a threat if you follow that."

Becky reluctantly nodded. "I guess you're right... but the MOMENT he tries anything, BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!"

"Hold that thought, bratty teacher," Asuna stepped up. Becky opened her mouth in shock to retort to the blatant disrespect, but Asuna continued. "Negi may be our Magister Magi, but I'M the leader of this club. And I say we need more research on this matter! Honya-chan!" She whirled to Nodoka. "Can you look up anything on the Chaos Emerald?"

"U-um, I think Library Island might have something on it," Nodoka answered. "It's a bit too late for my powers..."

Feeling ignored, Becky's eyes became watery. Negi, always the gentleman, came to her side and gently chided Asuna. "Asuna-san, maybe you should tone down how you treat Becky, okay? Let's do a Library Island expedition tomorrow."

"Again?! Fine," Asuna grumped. "But you're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Yes," Negi sighed, teary-eyed and defeated.

"Speaking of sleep..." Konoka yawned. "I'm gettin' tired."

Setsuna did the respectful thing and immediately stood to escort Konoka. "I'll take you to your room, ojou-sama."

"Looks like somebody beat us to the punch," Rei remarked dryly. Everyone else followed her pointed finger to Himeko, who had been sleeping during the entire impromptu meeting. A nose bubble bobbed up and down as she slept.

"Himeko!" Miyako moved to slap her awake, but both Negi and Becky blocked her way.

"I think she deserves a rest, don't you?" Negi asked the red-haired girl.

"For a rare time in her life, Himeko was a hero," Becky admitted. "I guess we'll let her get off easy... for now."

That's right. Himeko enters Negi's fold as the chaos heats up in Mahora Academy. As our heroines and their young male leader head off for bed, we come to realize that when they wake up tomorrow, they're now in a dangerous, shadow-filled race to get to the power of the Chaos Emeralds first! Will they succeed? Will they find what the chupacabra really is? And what of Cygnus? Tune in next time!

&!.?

"This is Miyako! Argh! My lack of importance in this story is REALLY pissing me off! The good news is that we're off to a place just filled with BOOKS! I wonder if there's anything that can teach me how to study right... or why the hell are all these cats wondering around! Next Time: 'It's CATURDAY?!' By Miyako. If you're expecting some crappy joke about Catnarok right now, then forget about it!"

(My chapters seem to get longer and longer, huh. I know most previous readers can't drop a review, so if you like or don't like the changes I'm making, drop me a PM! Tune in next time to hear Konoka say: "Oh Secchan!"

Props to Eternal Longing for prereading)


	5. It's Caturday! by Miyako

**Scheme!? Final Mix  
**

**Chapter 4: "IT'S CATURDAY?!" By Miyako**

If Cygnus were the narrator, he would be proud to announce that this was the worst morning ever.

But he's not, so that's irrelevant—

"GET ON WITH IT!" Cygnus bellowed.

Damn you. Anyway, Cygnus was having... wait for it... the worst Saturday morning ever! The tired and self-loathing boy was carrying a tied Rokugou on his back, en route to Library Island. At eight o' clock in the morning.

"Why, oh why am I kidnapping you? Are you that intoxicating to my senses?" Cygnus groused, more to himself rather than Rokugou. "I could've gotten my ass handed to me in that dorm..."

--

To tell the truth, it started out well enough. The sneaky swan boy had approached the Mahora dorms at dawn, his epic plan of causing discord by kidnapping that fair maiden again mulling over his head smoothly. "Hopefully those girls aren't morning people... I can strike and be done with it."

Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Cyg's first problem came in the form of Nodoka Miyazaki. Sneaking into the room he believed held the girl who caught his attention, he unfortunately found more than his quarry. And unlike Rokugou, the young librarian was awake and reading. And to top it all off, she had just noticed him.

Before the girl could scream, the boy had immediately whispered a spell and sliced forward. A dark energy bound and gagged the girl before her noise could alert anyone. Cygnus breathed a sigh of relief... only for Rokugou to wake up.

At least THIS person was supposed to be awake. "'Sup," Cygnus grinned, using a more subtle version of his attack on Nodoka. By the time the blue-haired lass noticed she was bound, it was too late. "I'm going for an adventure. Wanna come with me? Well, not like you have a choice," Cygnus gloated in his own evil.

"Oh ho? I detect a perv on the premises!" Ay, _crap_.

Cygnus found himself face to face with one Haruna Saotome, leering at him with a strange dichotomous mix of coy evil and gave seriousness, the latter likely from being a threat to Nodoka. "You must be the boy who was running around last night."

Cygnus frowned and began to make his escape, but Haruna continued on. "You know, all I'd have to do is scream right now, and Negi-kun and the others would tear you a new—"

"Oh hell no you don't!" Cygnus bellowed, and with one smooth motion, sent a wave of darkness her way, tying her up in the same fashion as the other girls.

But for Haruna, that went exactly as planned. "_Iyaaan_, how horribly erotic!" That girl was making way too much noise! Cygnus cursed under his breath as he realized he had been played and hastily made his escape before a real conundrum could be made.

--

"Goddammit, I'm cursed! My mission succeeded, but now I lost my head start! Damned woman," the swan boy snarled, shaking his fist.

"Hey... bondage hentai," Evangeline, who had stealthily been behind him the entire time, finally decided to catch his attention. Chachamaru, still faithfully by her side, stayed silent. Alas, the dark boy was still silently ranting about his own idiocy.

"Why do I fail?!" the boy finally raged.

"Because you're a bondage hentai." Evangeline finally spoke sharply, catching his attention.

"NO," Cygnus pointed an angry finger at the blond vampire girl.

Rokugou wanted to say something, but unfortunately there was a gag over her mouth, so all that came out was "Mmph."

"What exactly are you doing, anyway?" The blond vampire asked.

"I figured since they're also looking for the Chupacabra," Cygnus began to explain himself, a small smirk returning to his face. "I'd distract them and kidnap Rokugou. Meanwhile, _I_ could keep searching in earnest."

"Or maybe you're just a bondage hentai, planning to do naughty things to your hostage," Evangeline said.

"NO." Cygnus was so pissed that he fired a shot of darkness straight at Evangeline. However, the girl only laughed and swatted the thing away.

"Whether or not he is a bondage hentai, there is an attraction between him and 653," Chachamaru observed as the blast of darkness sailed away.

"What?... 653?"

"Either way, he's just a stupid bondage hentai, nowhere near _my_ levels of evil," Evangeline smiled evilly.

"NO!" Cygnus clawed his head in frustration. "What do I have to do to make you stop?!"

"Hmph," The blond tossed her hair back. "You could bring me..." Evangeline pretended to think for a while, looking between the nonplussed Cygnus and the gagged Rokugou. Finally, a random thought struck her head. "...a shrubbery."

Cygnus's jaw dropped in shock like a dramatic chord.

"Master, a shrubbery has a zero percent relevance to this topic." Chachamaru pointed out.

"Cygnus's plan has zero relevancy to his actual reason of kidnapping Rokugou. Your point?"

"My apologies, Master," Chachamaru bowed.

A thought struck Cygnus. "Why are you two following me anyway?"

"We just thought of a way to make this game interesting," Evangeline answered. "That, and to make sure you don't go too far with that lass you've got. Can't trust a bondage hentai of darkness, can we?"

"NO," Cygnus's usual reaction went against him this time. The vampire girl laughed. Cygnus sank.

"Meet us inside Library Island, lest we get the wrong idea and send Takamichi after you... or better yet Becky," Evangeline walked ahead as the boy stopped. "I hear stake burning is pretty popular way to kill things today." And with hearty laughter, the Undying Mage and her robot servant left.

Cygnus stared for a while, before he heard murmuring from Rokugou. He could make out "Could you ungag me please?" Sighing, he complied.

"At least you don't make me feel uncomfortable when you talk," Cygnus admitted.

"That's good. I was worried you might enact those bondage hentai fantasies," Rokugou shyly answered, that blush returning to her face.

Cygnus crashed. Worst. Saturday Morning. Ever.

* * *

Asuna, on the other hand, felt more relaxed than she had in a while. She stretched, soaking in the morning sun—something she rarely got to do. Often times this was because she had to do the paper route, or sleep in for school... but this time she was up early for no particular reason, and strangely it felt good.

She noticed that Negi didn't sneak into her bed again, yet another unusual thing about this morning. She glanced down at the couch, to see him sleeping there... her mouth upturned at the slightest bit at the sight of Becky sleeping right beside him, hugging him tightly. "Heh, Honya-chan would flip out if she saw this..." she murmured.

"Hey, Asuna," Konoka was already cooking breakfast. "How unusual, you're up pretty early for a weekend. Are you really that eager to get to Library Island?"

"Huh? Oh, _that's_ what we were planning to do today," Asuna said, scratching her head. "Meh, I just felt like getting up. And I couldn't resist such a classic scene like this," She pointed to the sleeping Negi and Becky.

"How cute," Konoka marveled, but returned quickly to her cooking.

"Mmm..." Becky murmured, still in dreamland. "Sausage..." She giggled... before stirring awake. Realizing what she was doing, she squealed and dashed to the opposite side of the room, throwing various things in Negi's direction. This in turn, woke up Negi who also screamed and dashed to the opposite side of the room, only he was doing more dodging than throwing.

"Becky-san!" Negi complained. "Please calm down!"

"Did you DO anything to me?! I'll never forgive you if you did!" Becky screamed, still throwing things at him. She suddenly stopped and began to hide under the curtains, the "hau hau" still audible from where she was.

Asuna and Konoka could only laugh. "Come on, Becky-san." Konoka said. "You slept with him, not the other way around." The girl was completely oblivious to the potential wrong way that could be taken.

Asuna didn't miss that, however. "What she means is, nothing happened, you were just hugging stupid Negi in your sleep."

Becky wearily stepped out of her hiding place, lulled by the reassuring faces of the other three.

This romantic comedy scene, however, was interrupted with a soft knocking on the door. "Who is it?" Konoka answered in a singsong voice as she went to open the door.

The fair maiden showed great confusion when the twins Fuuka and Fumika appeared, dragging in the bound and gagged bodies of Nodoka and Haruna. Fumika then said, "We have a problem!"

"A really big problem!" Fuuka added, waving around what appeared to be a small note.

Everyone else but Becky merely grimaced.

"AWAH?!" Becky reeled back in horror.

* * *

"Let me see that!" Miyako snatched the note from Himeko, who had snatched it from Becky, who had snatched it from Negi, so on and so forth. She read it out loud: "'Your Rokugou has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you bad enough dudes to rescue Rokugou? Signed, Cygnus.'" The girl with the shining forehead sighed.

Once again the gang had gathered within the Chupacabra Research Society club room. With news that Rokugou had once again been abducted, Negi insisted that Asuna call an emergency meeting. "This Cygnus creep is getting on my nerves, and I haven't even seen him!" Miyako griped. "Why does he keep kidnapping Rokugou?"

"It's a distraction," Kaede observed. "He's after those Chaos Emeralds too, isn't he? He's trying to slow us down."

"We can't let that happen!" Becky flailed her arms. "We have to stop him NOW!"

"Becky-san!" Negi tried to mollify the angry girl.

"Ummm..." Nodoka began timidly, but unfortunately she was ignored.

"Such disgraceful actions..." Setsuna crossed her arms. "I agree with Miyamoto-san, we need to put an end to his shenanigans."

"But I _like_ his shenanigans!" Haruna smiled. However, when half of the group leered at her as if she had announced plans for world domination, she eased up a bit. "But I'll bite and say he's gotta stop. Well, at least until we get the emeralds."

"But if we just keep tailing him, he'll get all the emeralds first!" Asuna countered.

"And the chupacabra will escape," Konoka and Ichijou echoed each other, causing both of them to exchange deadpan looks.

"But if we don't catch him I won't get any more crab meat buns!" Himeko sulked. Her "ahoge" seemed to deflate with her.

"B-b-b-but..." The twins tried to interject, and everyone began to argue over what to do. It wasn't looking so hot, as everyone seemed to have conflicting ideas on the matter...

...all except for Rei, who had been silent for most of the meeting up until now. She stepped up behind Miyako and began to say, "Hey, hey—"

As if she read her mind, Miyako finished Rei's thoughts by screeching, "EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP!" Rewarded with everyone's silence, the girl sat down, not even realizing she stood up to shout.

Rei stepped up. "By the sound of things, it looks like we have two groups... those that want to chase down Cygnus and those who want to learn more about the Chaos Emeralds." It was easy enough to come up with a solution. "Those of you who want to deal with Cygnus, step to my left. Those more interested in exploration, step to my right." Rei stood impassive as the two groups were formed.

"Since I'm the only one who can activate contracts, I will be hunting for Cygnus," Negi said. His group had Becky, Setsuna, Miyako, Konoka, Asuna, and Himeko. "Kaede-san, please be aware of everything and contact me if anything happens."

Kaede gave a curt nod. Her and Nodoka's group consisted of the two of them, the twins, Haruna, and Ichijou. Rei explained herself not joining either as "I have business with Chao."

But speaking of such, Rei noticed Miyako with the fighters. "Hey, Miyako."

"Huh?"

"What's up with you wanting to fight Cygnus when you can't even fight?"

"Uhhh..."

Becky sighed. "Might as well get it over with. Hey Negi, where's that rat that makes the glowing circle-thingy?"

"I'm not a rat, I'm an ERMINE!" Kamo exclaimed, popping out of nowhere. "And did somebody say, 'pactio'?"

"Yeah, she needs one of those," Becky jerked her thumb at Miyako, who nervously backed up.

"D-d-d-d-d-do I have to?" Miyako didn't like the sound of her first kiss being with a ten-year-old boy.

Negi bowed his head shamefully as Kamo activated the pactio circle. "Sorry, Uehara-san."

"You won't do it. Study bug," Rei's face dropped to a nasty sneer.

"Graugh, FINE!" Miyako bellowed as she stepped into the circle. She still hesitated, however as she saw herself staring at the fairly innocent Negi. She swallowed hard before standing close to Negi. "Let's get something straight. I am NOT a shotacon!"

"Fine with me," Negi giggled nervously.

The two made a kiss, and Kamo shouted "PACTIO!" to the heavens. Thusly, yet another girl joined the world's largest harem.

* * *

The vast, empty expanse of Library Island didn't bother Cygnus. No... what was more disturbing was the insane amount of books. Books that lined infinite rows of infinite shelves, books that flowed like a river, books that collected dust, books that lined the place like sardined soldiers...

Rokugou wasn't tied up this time, she stuck by his side, eyes filled with wonder but little else shown on her face. Both of them seemed to be more interested in the collection of books rather than the books themselves. Although there was one book...

A red book caught the girl's eye. She reached out to grab it...

...an arrow whizzed straight towards her, and would've pierced her heart had Cygnus not reacted fast enough to cleave the arrow in two. Darkness left his hand as the boy clenched his teeth. "I don't think I'll be doing that again," Rokugou chuckled nervously.

"Watch it, girl. This place is booby trapped," The two turned their attention to their right to see Evangeline staring at them. Chachamaru was of course close by. "Rather not have you die and cause the dark boy to go completely crazy, now would we?" She stepped in front of them; Chachamaru remained where she was.

"What do you want?" Cygnus asked, raising an eyebrow. Then something crossed his mind. "Hold it, hold it! Backtrack: who ARE you?"

The blond girl smirked. "Evangeline A. K. McDowell. Just call me Evangeline. My servant over there is Chachamaru," Evangeline looked over to see that the robotic girl was petting a cat. "...what are you doing?"

"It is Caturday, Master." Chachamaru answered. "The cats seem to multiply on Mahora today." There was another cat that caught Chachamaru's attention. She moved to pet it...

CHOMP The cat bit down on Chachamaru's hand. Too bad it lost all of its teeth. Whimpering from paying for its evil deed, it scampered away.

Chachamaru wasn't sure how to register that though. "...maybe it was angry," She concluded.

Evangeline groaned. "Whatever." She turned to the other two. "Now I'm pretty sure you've seen that boy's magical power as well as the strength of all the girls he forms a contract with, right?"

"Yes," Cygnus answered. "That one girl even had a _Keyblade_."

"What's so special about a Keyblade?" Rokugou asked.

"Many dark forces stronger than even I have fallen to that thing. It's the worst Deus Ex Machina ever conceived by the forces of light..."

"While taking a trip down memory lane seems amusing, I don't have the time or patience to care about your knowledge of whatever that key thing is..." Evangeline interrupted. "But how would you like to match Negi _bouya_ with his own game?"

"O... _RLY_," Cygnus mirrored Evangeline's dark grin. Rokugou, on the other hand, still had on her poker face.

* * *

Library Island beckoned our heroes. Negi and his group of girls had entered its bowels some time ago. Now both groups were splitting up to accomplish their tasks. "Ichijou-san, please contact me if anything happens," Negi said.

"Will do," The girl saluted. Seconds later, she was already staring back at Konoka. Both girls were wearing rugged jeans, a jacket and a fedora.

"Ojou-sama, it is not healthy for you to continue staring contests with Ichijou-san," Setsuna tried to gently guide Konoka away from her strange pseudo-twin.

"It's freaky, Secchan," Konoka answered somewhat listlessly. "She sounds like me, sometimes looks like me and even acts like I do. Could she be an evil twin?"

"No," Setsuna answered simply. _I would be able to tell otherwise... I won't let anything happen to you, no matter what._ With that the two groups split up, Nodoka's group heading deeper into the library, while Negi's group followed his lead and kept straight.

As the groups left the area though, a familiar shadow appeared, the morning sun stretching his spikes to look just a bit more deadly than they actually were—which doesn't say much, because they're still deadly. The supposed chupacabra, Chaos Emerald in hand, quietly sped off.

* * *

For the sake of being awesome, we're going to follow Nodoka's gang first.

Nodoka had settled down with the others, a collection of books at hand. The others were a bit less helpful, simply mulling through titles and disarming booby traps. "I'm not sure what we could find on the Chaos Emeralds... Ah, Negi-sensei would've had a better idea where to look." Nodoka sighed.

"Bleh..." Haruna sighed. "I've been around this place several times, and for the life of me I still can't find anything."

"I've looked everywhere," Fuuka began.

"And I can't find anything on Chaos Emeralds!" Fumika continued.

"I think I know a way to solve this problem," Ichijou answered. To the amazement of everyone around her, she reached into her shirt and pulled out... a little girl.

...her sister.

The cute, chibi-fied sibling of the strange Ichijou blinked as she observed her new surroundings. Kaede, Haruna, the twins, and Nodoka did nothing to hide their apparent shock. I mean, the girl pulled out her little sister like a weapon. Wouldn't you be shocked too? Ichijou, on the other hand, didn't care. Squatting until she was on even level with her sister, the girl gently asked, "Hey, can you tell us where a Chaos Emerald book might be?"

The other girls were clueless. How would this random child that Ichijou pulled out know how to find a certain book? Nevertheless, Ichijou's sister pulled out a drawing pad and some crayons, and got to work. When all was said and done, the girl happily showed her picture to everyone else.

They were staring at a crude drawing of a cat.

"Ah, my apologies," Ichijou answered for her sister. "I nearly forgot. Today is Caturday."

"Caturday?" Nodoka blinked. This was suddenly making less and less sense.

"Caturday is Saturday for cats, mya!" Shichimi landed gently on Nodoka's head, bobbing to an invisible beat. "It's very nice! Every once in a while the cats will start wandering all over campus! All of you need to post more cats, nya."

"Two can play that game," Haruna crowed. And with that, she pulled out her own notebook and drew a cat in a similar fashion to Ichijou's young sister. Showing off her superior creation to the girl, however, only got a disdainful "hmph!" and a turned head.

"She's better than you." Ichijou explained.

"GACK." Haruna flinched, being forced to hold back her rage against the little girl.

"Who decided to make this Saturday..." Fuuka began again.

"Caturday?" Fumika finished.

"I did, nya," There was that creepy-eyed cat again. Nodoka's eyes shot open and she backed away in fear. Obviously she doesn't like him. "Caturday is a shining moment for all cats nya."

Everyone stared for a moment, scrutinizing the cat (and Nodoka's terror). Kaede finally spoke. "Who... are you?"

"I'm God, nya," The cat proclaimed.

"No." Ichijou deadpanned.

While this strange conversation was taking place, Ichijou's sister was drawing once again. When she finished, she smiled and showed the picture to the cat-that-thinks-it's-God. "Nya?" The creepy cat blinked. It was a picture of the chupacabra, only blue.

Perfect timing, since a streak dashed by and knocked the cat off the bookcase. "NYYYAAA?!" The cat crashed somewhere amidst the books, promptly setting off several booby traps which probably killed it. Or not. Either way, it had nothing more to offer to this episode.

The group saw the figure dash away into the shadows.

"Was that the Chupacabra?" Fuuka blinked.

"Doesn't matter," Kaede answered. "We've got bigger problems," She pointed backwards, drawing everyone's attention to three streamlined robots behind them. They were red, with slim, two pronged feet and guns for right arms. Said guns were already pointing at the group, and to make matters worse they heard the foreboding -chik-chik- of their weapons. "RUN!" She commanded.

Nodoka and the twins squealed and high-tailed it out of there as fast as their legs could carry them. Ichijou stared at Kaede for a moment, a questioning look on her face. Haruna, however, spoke. "Nagase-san?"

"I'll stall them, contact Negi-bouzu and get the others out of here!"

Ichijou and Haruna turned away and sped off after the others.

About now the robots finally decided to fire. The ninja girl dodged the hail of bullets, landing evenly with them on higher ground. She tensed for her own attack...

Before they could even fire a shot, a mysterious shadow ripped them to metallic shreds. Kaede could make the faint outline of the spiky haired chupacabra landing somewhere in the shadows.

A shining yellow jewel arced in front of her, and out of instinct she caught it. "Huh?"

"You can use that!" The creature called out. "Let its power flow through you!"

"Hmm..." Kaede relaxed slightly. The gem began to glow slightly, and power began to flow through the girl. Suddenly she felt that soul pinprick, and focused strongly to bring out that power. When all was said and done, she had her armor card powers. "So that's what a Chaos Emerald can do..."

"Don't get cocky, those robots got backup!" The voice called again.

With that, several robots crashed through, all the same as the three that attacked earlier. Kaede wasted no time in dodging the flurry of bullets.

Now was the time to get serious.

Kaede focused her powers, and several shadow clones formed beside her. One crashed its knee into a robot, tearing it apart. Another back-flipped into the air and sent a hail of kunai into two robots, causing them to explode. Another robot opened fire, but met its end when another shadow clone slammed into it.

The real Kaede charged the last one, dodging its gunfire with ease before slamming it into a wall, destroying it. With the chilling silence answering her once more, the ninja looked around for the shadow. "Not here... I should find the others, just in case there's more." The shadow clones disappeared, and she sprinted further into the library.

* * *

"This place is weird..." Becky barely spoke above a whisper as they searched through the infinite library. She raised an eyebrow at the 'waterfall' of books nearby. "Then again, I've been to a lot of weird places..." It sure beat having a jungle with crazy animals and pitfalls though.

"Library Island is one of the largest libraries in the world," Negi explained to her. "It's also fairly old, so it has ancient booby traps as well."

"Uh-huh," Miyako responded, her nose buried in the rows of books. She appeared to be looking for something...

"Miyako-san?!" Negi nearly gasped in surprise, worried about her activating some sort of trap.

"Aha!" A rather archaic yet shiny book caught her eye, a strange, swan-like symbol on its spine. "Is this place really booby trapped?" She asked as she reached for the book.

"Miyako-san!" Negi warned, but it was too late. Her hands were already on the book.

An arrow shot towards her, but the faster Setsuna reacted first. With a single clean swipe, she deflected the arrow. The thing sailed harmlessly onto the floor somewhere further away. "Miyako-san, please don't be so reckless."

"Yeah. Sorry about that," She responded, carrying no remorse for her actions whatsoever. She began skimming through the book. "But did you ever think to look up stuff about Cygnus?"

"Eh? Why would we?" Asuna blinked. "He looks like he's our age!"

"Yeah, but then again considering those powers of his, I wonder if he's a bit older than we thought..." Negi began to think about it. _Or why he's so fascinated with Rokugou-san._ "I guess it's safe now. Go on and see if you can find anything in it, Miyako-san!"

Miyako looked further. "Can't understand a lick... it's all in some garbled text... but I do see some interesting pictures. WAITADAMNSECOND, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"Let me see!" Becky tried to get the book.

"I'll take it!" Konoka gently snatched (if that were even possible) the book from Miyako. Sure enough, she saw the picture Miyako was raging on about. "Oh dear," she said, her face turning crimson.

"Ojou-sama, what is it? I think that kind of thing could be dangerous—EE?!" Setsuna attempted to take the book from Konoka and put it back, but one look at the rather shocking picture caused her to go crimson as well. The girl had to struggle to keep mental pictures of Konoka doing naughty things to her out of her head.

"Let me see!" Becky flailed cutely.

"Geez guys," Asuna said, taking the book away from Konoka. "What could be so bad about—UWWAAH?!" Shock struck her as well. "Is Cygnus really planning to do THAT?!"

"Ooohh! Can I see?" Himeko snatched the book and looked at the pictures, but could only stare in confusion. "Huh?"

"LET... ME... SEE!" Becky stamped her feet and snatched the book from Himeko. She opened it to the page of shock, and afterwards could only stare blankly in shock for the next fifteen seconds. When she could finally speak coherent English, most of those around her could only hear "Must... burn... at... stake..."

Negi and Kamo, the only two who had yet to look at the book, merely peered down at Becky to get a glimpse. Kamo was unimpressed. "What are you guys whinin' about? This art is crappy! And it looks like it was drawn two hours ago!"

"What's going on?" Negi proved himself still naive on the ways of love as he looked at the picture, completely nonplussed as to what was going on. "Why are they in that position, and what does that have to do with Cygnus?"

The girls all exchanged looks before staring back at Negi. "Definitely hasn't hit puberty yet," They all concluded at the same time. Negi continued to stare at them in oblivious confusion.

"Aw hell, it's the shotacon guild," The group swung around and looked to their right. Cygnus stood above them, neon-orange eyes gleaming, the darkness swirling about him. Irritation on his face evident, he muttered, "Surely you have better things to do than to hate on me while you've got Chaos Emeralds or a Chupacabra to hunt."

"Where's Rokugou?!" Becky screeched. "Tell me and I MIGHT not burn you at the stake!"

"Your idle threats don't bother me, girlie." Cygnus snidely countered. "All you need to know is that she's safe. Nothing else concerns you."

"Why can't we be civilized about this?" Himeko looked diplomatic... for a moment. "If you turn yourself in now, I get more crab meat buns!"

Cygnus pointed a dramatic finger, eyes wide with shock and awe, began to gasp... and then took a deadpan look and answered, "No." He stared for a moment, but then began to cross his arms and bow down. "Alas... darkness crawlin' through someone's heart already. Pity I can't take it from you yet." The swirling darkness around him began to stop suddenly. "You still have business to take care of, so you're not worth my time right now." His eyes seemed to intensify as he disappeared, leaving only a trail of darkness. He once again ignored Negi's cry of "Wait!"

"Negi! Let's tail him!" Asuna said.

He nodded. "It's going to be dangerous dealing with him from this moment forward, so I will activate the contracts now..." He set his staff in front of him, and it began to glow with power. "Partner: Kagurazaka Asuna, Konoe Konoka, Sakurazaki Setsuna, Miyamoto Rebecca, Uehara Miyako, Katagiri Himeko..." Each girl felt the soul pin-prick as Negi called out their names. "Show me the power within you!" The air seemed to dance around them. Six orbs of incantations drifted from their bodies and formed in front of Negi, who grabbed inside. "Contract... activate!" A bright light flashed.

Konoka was the first to return to normal. Her clothes were now an elaborate Kansai outfit, and she was wielding a powerful looking wooden string of chopsticks, as strange as that sounded. She scored the only armor card. "Yay!" She cheered.

Becky managed to get the last of her forms... cat ears, a skin-tight suit, a tail, and sharp claws. However, she wasn't happy. "Don't tell me I have another messed up card!" A river of tears fell from her eyes.

"No, I think that's good!" Konoka answered.

Setsuna was decked in a pale blue samurai outfit. Yuunagi gleaming bright, she assumed a fighting stance. "You two have cosplay cards," Kamo noted to Setsuna and Becky. "But as for the rest of you..." Kamo turned back towards the other three and sighed in defeat.

"Not again!" Asuna the wild boar pouted, her now childish face pouting.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Miyako the ladybug buzzed around irately.

Himeko the crab stared a bit, "Mahos" fluttering from her mouth before a crazy old idea emerged. "It's not all bad! Oliolioliolioooooo!"

Negi chuckled nervously. "Those of you who have suka cards, please keep back," he prepared his staff and looked towards the more fortunate ones. "Konoka-san, Setsuna-san, Becky-san... let's move." And with that he trekked further into the library. All seven were following the trail of darkness.

Although Becky was scampering on all fours. "I'm already too cat-like, nya," She pouted.

"It's Caturday, Becky-san, it can't be helped!" Konoka answered with a giggle.

As they darted off deeper into the library, they remained unaware of a floating figure following them. A strange, purple thing consumed by flames aimed its glare at Negi and continued on in silent pursuit. This wasn't going to be pretty.

* * *

When Negi reached a nexus, he saw what looked like a throne seat. Perfect setting for an evil villain to start gloating, only the person there wasn't Cygnus at all.

It was Rokugou.

"Rokugou-san!" Negi gasped in surprise.

"Negi-sensei!" She greeted kindly, standing up. "Becky! Everyone..." She added as they appeared. "Everyone seems to have cool costumes... or is that Negi-sensei's magic?"

"Uh er, Rokugou-san, those are called pactios," Negi's face fell. "Anyway, are you okay? You need to get back before Cygnus shows up—"

"What was that?" A swirl of darkness occupied the throne seat and suddenly dispersed, leaving the sinister Cygnus in its place. "Oh, I'm sorry! I could've sworn you said 'Get back before I show up.' That's not _cowardice_, is it?" Though he was grinning, irritation was evident on both speech and features. "C'mon, if Rokugou wanted to get out of harm's way, she would've done so by now... hell, she can still do it if she wants. Are we preparing for some final, epic battle against the source of all evil? It's only the fourth bloody episode, don't you think you're being a bit hasty?"

"Cygnus-san!" Negi bellowed. "Please leave Rokugou alone and stand down before I have to use force." He stared down Cygnus. The three battle-ready girls behind him took fighting stances as well. The small animals simply cheered on. He was troubled, however, when Cygnus grew a savage grin.

Standing tall, the boy announced, "Pactios, pactios! TWO can play that game!" He focused some magic, curling his index and ring fingers before forcing them back. "Partner..."

This confused everyone. Cygnus, having a partner? As far as they knew, Cygnus worked fairly alone! Rokugou was just a fangirl/hostage... right?

"...Sayaka Suzuki!"

"UUWWEEEHHH?!" Everyone else but Rokugou gasped in shock. How could he have made a pactio with that girl? Or more importantly... why?

"Show me the power within you..." He announced grandly, bringing his hand back to accept the girl's lottery. Rokugou began to float, and a much darker orb left her chest before settling near Cygnus's outstretched hand. He grabbed inside of it. "Contract... ACTIVATE!" He pulled out a card, darkness slowly dissipating from it.

Rokugou herself began to transform. Her old clothes were gone in a flash of white, replaced by a maid's uniform. Her shoes were red heels, though those heels weren't very high. She took a curtsy. With that, Cygnus grinned as he bellowed. "See? I can do it too!" He laid down, head resting on a hand, and began to strum his fingers.

"R-Rokugou?! Why?!" Becky asked exasperated.

Rokugou blushed. "It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

"Are you sure you want to fight us?" Cygnus raised an eyebrow. "A shadow has already claimed one of your souls..." The air seemed to tense at this statement. Everyone froze in horror, worried about their shadows. "It's only a matter of minutes before—oh, what's this?" Cygnus narrowed his eyes. "Looks like we have company."

Indeed, a fluttering purple spirit set aflame appeared above the crowd. The fire fairy looked down at Negi, appearing to be merely curious. "Fairy...?!" Negi gasped as recognition set in.

"A what?" Becky raised her eyebrows.

Negi's voice suddenly reached a desperate and angry pitch. "Don't touch my students! Your grudge is with me, remember?!"

"Oh what the hell is this," Cygnus actually sat to attention, eyes gazing strongly at the conflict. Ah, what he wouldn't give to have some Medusa powers right now...

"Leave them alone!" Negi continued.

The fairy did not listen. Instead, it grew a nasty grin of completely obvious evil and summoned a small wave of darkness. It slung a fiery "arm" and watched the darkness sink into the earth, only to explode a moment later. When all was said and done, Konoka stood away from the others.

She twitched and suddenly fled the room.

"Konoka-san!" Negi shouted concern showing on his face. The fairy made a face at him and flew off after her.

"OJOU-SAMA!" Setsuna was the fastest to react, and chased right after her. Negi hopped on his staff and chased the two girls.

Through all this, Becky realized that the dark boy was right—it was pick a fight with him or watch someone else fall to the darkness. She scowled at him, and, along with the "We'll get you next time!" threats from the chibi animals, fled the scene. The animals struggled to keep up.

After a moment of silence, Cygnus stood up and roared. "That thing thinks it can beat _me_ in the _darkness_? That faker is _going down_!"

"Yes sah!" Rokugou saluted, slightly panicked by his mood swing. Cygnus disappeared into a wave of darkness, and the young maiden followed suit.

* * *

"Setsuna-san! Konoka-san?!" Negi called out, flying through the dark halls at breakneck speed. He didn't give a damn whether or not anyone saw him this time—something was clearly wrong with Konoka, and it was all that damn fairy's fault. Considering that Setsuna was still managing to keep a distance from him and yet couldn't catch up to Konoka made him wonder just what that fairy was planning. It was the first time they took someone over and ran for it.

"Negi-sensei!" Setsuna shouted when he finally caught up to her.

"Setsuna-san?!"

"I don't know how that fairy managed to slip past us, likely Cygnus's dark aura was a perfect distraction!" Her eyes widened, as if a nightmarish thought occurred to her. "Negi-sensei, find the others first and meet me back outside! I'll stall the fairy... and ojou-sama," And with that she was gone. Negi, face grim and disappointed, slowed down a bit and got off his staff.

"Negi-sensei!" The boy saw Nodoka and her group, minus Kaede, approach him. With the exception of Ichijou, they were panting, tired from their running.

"Are you okay?! What happened?" Negi asked.

"Robots attacked us," Ichijou stated simply.

"R-robots!?" Negi flinched in shock.

"But the ninja stayed behind to take care of them. Also it doesn't look like the bondage hentai was behind those..."

"Ninja... Kaede-san? And... bondage hentai?"

"Cygnus."

"Cygnus... wait, is that why everyone was... OH NO!" Negi gripped his own head in horror.

"And you just NOW reach that conclusion?" Becky scampered into view, followed by the suka forms. "I won't let him do that to Rokugou!"

"Negi-sensei," Nodoka said softly, not wanting that conversation to go any further before HER imagination starts going wild. "I'm worried about Kaede-san."

And speak of the devil. "Ah, you shouldn't be." Kaede landed down, still in her armor garb. "I learned something interesting today."

"Kaede-ane-san!" Kamo popped out. "How are you wearing your armor when you haven't had Negi activate it for you?"

"That's what I'm talking about," The ninja answered. "The Chaos Emerald can activate contracts. The Chupacabra himself showed me."

"Ooh!" Everyone else said.

"In any case we need to find what's going on with Konoka-ane-san and Setsuna-san!" Kamo said. "We need to get back outside!"

Everyone agreed. Becky however, still had a slight question. "Negi..." She asked softly. "...why does that fairy hate you?"

Negi sighed sadly. "That's what _I_ want to know."

* * *

The astronomy room.

It was the meeting place of the fortune telling club, one of Konoka's favorite clubs, and as well the astronomy club itself. In the center of the dome-like room stood a strange clock, keeping time accurate with the revolution of the solar system. The room was dark, with the exception of the sparkling lights that served as the stars, and the strange, pale glow of an artificial moon. When Setsuna entered, Konoka was already down there, gazing at the moon.

"Ojou-sama," She began, but then saw she had a change of dress. She quite literally was wearing nothing but white. A white dress, long socks and shoes, and strangely enough a headband with cat ears. "Wait..."

"Secchan..." Konoka called in an alluring voice.

"O-Ojou-sama?!" Setsuna stepped back a bit, a twinge of red appearing on her cheeks. "No, the fairy..." As if on cue, that fire fairy showed up, dancing about. Setsuna snarled and prepared her sword. "_You_."

"Negi-kun's supposed to be miserable," Konoka gently grabbed Setsuna and sung, her eyes gleaming. The touch was nigh electric to the guardian. "We should make that happen together. No need to attack Mr. Fairy... How about... a kiss?"

"What?!" This was certainly unladylike by Setsuna's standards, but unfortunately her inner desires were clashing with her outside logic. "N-n-n-n... that is to say, th-that's—"

"Too late, Secchan..." Too late indeed, as it was only then Setsuna noticed Konoka's noticeably larger fangs and those fangs were beginning to sink into her...

* * *

With the effects of all the contracts gone, everyone was back to normal status as they headed back to the school. However, there was still business to take care of. Ichijou wandered off again, and the twins and Kaede tried to follow her, only to get lost in the process. With the walking club no longer with them, the rest of the gang had no choice but to hunt for the lovebirds-in-denial without them.

Things were uneventful until Negi felt a terrible darkness nearby. "Oh dear... Konoka-san!" With his staff reacting, he followed it quickly.

"Negi!" Asuna picked up the pace behind him, as did everyone else.

Negi's staff shook the most violently as he approached and entered the Astronomy room. It was here he noticed the presence of Konoka and Setsuna. Both of them seemed to be in an embrace, and when they noticed Negi they pulled back. It was here he noticed they had different clothes. There was Konoka's white dress, but Setsuna had on a purple vest, white pants, and gloves. Despite her strange attire there was a certain regal feel to her presence.

"Hi, Negi-kun," Konoka slurred alluringly. "You do know today is _Caturday_, right?"

"Konoka-san!" Negi said, alarmed. She was possessed indeed, but there was something different, something _wrong_... He looked up, and saw the fire fairy hovering in front of the fake moon. "You... let my students _go_!"

"No can do... I can't stop until you're miserable," Konoka answered, speaking for the fairy. "But of course, I can make you miserable in _other_ ways..." She cupped his face, her eyes gleaming with lust. "Think about it this way—if you were two years older, this won't feel miserable at all!"

"Leave him alone!" Asuna and Becky bellowed at the same time. They stamped towards Konoka, eyes lit with fire.

Unfortunately, the possessed Setsuna decreed it was Soviet Russia, and in Soviet Russia, the fire lights _them_. "No one will stand in ojou-sama's way!" She flicked her hand forward, and a rush of flames blasted the entryway where everyone was. Becky and Asuna's asses were on fire, so they screeched like banshees in an attempt to roll them out. The fairy simply swung about in delight. "We'll destroy you next."

"It's impossible!" Becky said between "hau haus". "We can't get in!"

"Oh no! Negi-sensei!" Nodoka tried to reach, but the flames blocking the way were too strong.

"Wait a second! Miyako-san's still in there!" Himeko pointed, and sure enough the red-haired girl was still on the other side of the fire, staring as if someone burned a million dollars in front of her face. "Miyako-san! Don't give up! Help Negi-sensei!" Himeko waved.

"What the hell can I do?!" She bellowed. However, she saw Negi now suffering an "attack" from the cat-like girls. "Geez!"

The girls were practically fondling the boy at this point. The only thing he could do was stutter. "N-no! Bad kitties! Very bad kitties!" Which seemed to egg them on more than it did to stop them.

"Come on, Negi-kun... you know you like it," Konoka's face shined with a dark delight.

Miyako was at a loss. With that, she concluded she could only do one thing.

Stomping towards the girls, Miyako raised a hand, and performed a mighty slap to Konoka's face.

Bad move.

Konoka merely turned to Setsuna, who understood wordlessly. She grabbed Miyako's arm and threw her away.

"Aiyah!" Miyako sailed into a wall and crashed. She moaned softly in pain as she sank to the ground.

"Miyako-san!" Negi yelled.

"Know your place!" Setsuna bellowed. The powerful yet controlled flames revealed her shadow—a cat-like creature, with feathers sticking out of her head. "Those who DARE touch ojou-sama will feel the wrath of Blaze!" She aimed an outstretched hand, and fire gathered, swirling about her palm. She aimed, ready to finish off Miyako...

"Miyako!" Becky screeched.

The fire was already launched. Miyako could do nothing but prepare for a fiery end...

...except it never came, because a barrier deflected the attack.

Miyako saw the dancing flames die out as Rokugou appeared before her, still in the maid costume. "Rokugou...?"

"Miyako-san, I'm glad I came in time," Rokugou answered.

A swirl of darkness appeared behind both of them, and Cygnus emerged, a snide grin on his face. "Thought so! What I see here is a _faker_!"

"Faker?" Konoka gasped, but this turned out to be a mistake as Negi escaped her grasp and quickly came by Miyako's side, quickly chanting a healing spell. The girl's body glowed as the damage from the throw was undone.

"You're on my turf, pixie. I'm the real darkness. You. _Get lost_," Cygnus aimed his finger at the fairy. It reeled back, as if struck, and nearly shivered in fear. He turned his attention to Negi. "How about giving the angry glasses girl a fighting chance?"

Negi wasn't sure what to make of Cygnus's semi-friendliness, but complied anyway. Whipping out his staff, he said. "Miyako-san, ready?"

"Ready..." The girl stood up and adjusted her glasses.

"Partner... Uehara Miyako! Show me the power within you!" Negi bellowed, summoning the sphere. Miyako felt that pin-prick in her soul as Negi reached inside to pull the card out. "Contract... activate!" A bright light shined, and Miyako's clothes were gone. Her new attire was a simple pink dress and matching shoes. A frying pan materialized in her right hand.

"Huh... I feel like the world could bend to my whim with just a thought..." Miyako muttered. "Although I don't understand the pink dress or frying pan."

"I had enough of this!" Konoka bellowed, and shot a hand in the air. At once a blast of power shot from beneath everyone. Rokugou once again put up a barrier to shield from the attack, although she had to strain a bit to keep the attack from piercing the shield.

At once, Negi began to prepare a counter spell. "Ras tel—uwah?!"

Cygnus dragged him backwards. "This ain't our fight! Our target's up there," Negi looked up to see that fairy again, shaking off its strange fear of Cygnus and growing angrier. "We'll boost the distraction a bit by letting them fight."

"Huh?" Negi blinked, confused. "Why?"

"Because it's fun (plus that fairy's out of safe reach)!" Cygnus crowed. He turned to the two pairs. "So HOW ABOUT IT? Dueling duos, lesbians versus non-lesbians! WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS?! I think I like this development, to be quite honest," his hands were making a grand gesture in the air, complete with maniacal laughter.

Rokugou chuckled nervously. "I think you're overdoing it, Cygnus-kun. Please keep your eyes on that fairy..."

"Enough," Blaze Setsuna took a fighting stance. She sliced forward and a blast of fire shot towards them... only for it to stop in mid-air. "Huh?"

Miyako had stopped it with telekinesis. "Not bad huh?" She sent it back, and Setsuna was forced to flip over her own fire arc. Setsuna came out of the flip with raging sword strike. Miyako countered with her frying pan. Fiery sword and pan collided in a loud and fierce clash, sparks falling to the floor. Both combatants stepped back after a while.

Konoka was in front of Miyako in a flash. "Dark bite... HA!" A wolfish face made of dark power appeared from an arcane symbol, formed at Konoka's hand. Miyako teleported away just as the wolf face snapped. "HA!" Again, except Miyako dodged this one. "HA!" Duck. "HA!" Dodge. "HA!" Teleport.

Meanwhile, Setsuna's body raged with flames, and she charged Rokugou. The maid girl jumped back and deflected the charge with a barrier. Unfortunately Setsuna saw this one coming. She swept underneath the girl, aimed a sword strike, and knocked her skyward from below.

"Rokugou-san!" Asuna panicked. Not thinking, she tried to get past the fire again. "AIYAHH!" She rolled furiously to put out the fire. "It's still hopeless," she sulked in a perfect imitation of Becky's "hau hau". Becky patted her back.

Konoka, seeing an easy target, tried to finish off Setsuna's combo with her own attack. She opened a magic portal right above Rokugou, summoning a blast of magic. Bad news was Rokugou disappearing before the attack could even hit. Rokugou showed up once more with Miyako at her side. "Thanks, Miyako-san."

"Heh, no worries," Miyako smiled before facing Setsuna again. She twirled her frying pan below her. With her mind, she picked up some debris and fired it at the other two. Both Konoka and Setsuna split away, almost phasing out of sight until—

"To your left!" Miyako shouted.

A magic circle appeared, and that same pale burst of energy shot right towards them. Rokugou was fast enough on the uptake to once again block the attack with no effort. Konoka reappeared, pouting at her failure.

Setsuna, however, had yet to play her hand. She rocketed towards Miyako, sword in hand. Sword met frying pan once again, but this time the flames were stronger. Soon enough Miyako's own pan betrayed her, and the pot was too hot to handle. "Ay-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-dah!" She dropped the pan and Setsuna forced her backwards right onto her bottom.

"Burn." Setsuna stated simply, rearing back for an attack.

Rokugou would have none of that. She grabbed Setsuna by the arm, slung her over, and bent backwards to slam her right into the ground.

"Ooh," Everyone outside shuddered at the pain Setsuna was obviously feeling.

"I always wanted to do that in the real world," A smile was slightly visible on Rokugou's face.

"Why are her panties visible?" Becky twitched, unhappy about that discovery. Others around her also dropped their jaws in slight embarrassment.

"Huh?" This got Cygnus's attention immediately.

"You can't look!" Negi irately knocked Cygnus's head upwards to keep his eyes on the angry fairy hovering near the ceiling.

"What the hell you talking about? You can't look either!" Cygnus did likewise to Negi, more out of irritation that the boy was messing with his face.

Rokugou finally stood up again, and business resumed as normal.

Konoka, on the other hand, was not pleased. "How dare you!" Magic circles were all over the place, and it wasn't looking good. "Take this!" Magic blasts were now everywhere, and Rokugou now actually had to strain to use her powers.

"Miyako-san! Please finish this!" Rokugou said through clinched teeth.

The redhead was already on it. She appeared in Konoka's face, and when the girl's eyes widened in surprise, Miyako pulled an excellent SMMASSSHH attack, striking the girl for massive damage. After successfully canceling the crazy magic auras, Miyako reared her hand back. "PK... FIRE!" A ring of psychokinetic fire surrounded the girl.

"EYAH!" Konoka screamed.

Now the fairy acted. Seeing its vessels lose strength, it dropped out of its safe zone to launch one final desperate attack on the two remaining girls.

"Negi-sensei!" Miyako called.

"Cygnus-kun! NOW!" Rokugou added.

Just what they were waiting for. Cygnus and Negi stopped bickering and suddenly whirled around towards the fairy, breaking out into a full sprint towards it. "Ras tel ma scir magister..." "Gloria en obscurum..."

"**Weighted Light... Travel, go beyond the door and SEND IT FAR AWAY****!**" Both of them bellowed, as their magic grew stronger. "TEL MA... AMORIS!" The two of them slammed their hands into the fire fairy's face. It shrieked in pain before finally ceasing to exist and being replaced by a strange, green disc. With this, the fire around Konoka lit out as if it were blown away, and the darkness within Konoka began to evaporate. She fell, unconscious and back in her old clothes.

"...How many more fairies will try to harm my students?" Negi lamented quietly.

"Huh... I don't like competition. My game is better," Cygnus snarled. He looked at Setsuna. "Be glad. The real shadow is still here."

Setsuna shook herself. She was still in those clothes and still nearly on fire, but the possessed/evil aura about her was gone. "Ah..." She said. "I am just a shadow in this girl's body..." She looked over towards Rokugou. "A worthy opponent. So you wish for what's inside me. I admit defeat." She sat down. "Someday, may you meet the real me." She made a ninja-like hand gesture, eyes closed. The shadow, and Setsuna's strange clothes evaporated quickly, leaving only a normal Setsuna and a shiny blue Chaos Emerald in its wake. The samurai girl stirred from her pseudo slumber, emerald in hand.

"Setsuna-san!" Negi called. "Are you alright?"

"Ugh... Negi-sensei... don't know what happened..." She shook herself. A thought crossed her mind, and she remembered what was going on beforehand. "OJOU-SAMA!" With speed that would've made the Chupacabra proud, Setsuna was cradling Konoka in a blink of an eye. "Ojou-sama, please wake up!"

Konoka also began to stir. "Secchan..." She opened her eyes. Setsuna's heart nearly broke from the sadness she saw in those eyes. "I'm sorry, Secchan. I gave in."

"Ojou-sama... why?" Setsuna's voice was soft.

"That terrible feeling... one moment was all that it took for me to completely lose it..." Konoka murmured. "Please forgive me, Secchan..." Her eyes began to water.

"Ojou-sama, it's _I_ that should be asking _you_ for forgiveness. I should have seen that darkness. I should have seen my own shadow, too." If Setsuna wasn't totally crushed by the sadness by now, she certainly was at the end of her own sentence. "I swear... no matter what, I won't let the darkness take you anymore!" Her eyes were watery as well.

"Secchan," Konoka smiled again.

Cygnus made a face. Those two... somehow it kinda made his heart hurt. "Hmph..." He glared at the Spirit's Scream Negi now held. That sensation it gave off... it felt extremely familiar to him. "Rest assured that whatever obnoxious darkness that spawned won't be bothering you. After all, I'm the only darkness that can please Ro—"

A massive flying kick silenced Cygnus immediately. "GROKK!" Okay, maybe it didn't.

Becky landed from her perfect attack as the other members of Negi's group swarmed in to surround him. "YOU!" She declared, pointing a vicious finger in his direction. "I won't let you perv on Rokugou as you please!"

Rokugou's cheeks grew red. "Cygnus-kun?"

"It's obvious I'm not liked because my descent to villainy is apparently working," Cygnus managed a mock salute despite the huge bruise on his face. "I'll be back to win your heart with my awesome evil, my dear!" With that he swept a grand bow to Rokugou faded into the darkness. Along with it, both Rokugou and Miyako were back to normal.

Negi stared for a moment as the fire died down and everyone scrambled towards Konoka and Setsuna, offering words of comfort and body warmth like kittens (hey, it IS Caturday). Despite the peace, his mind ran in chaotic circles. Why did Cygnus help him against the fairy? For somebody evil, this guy is quite simply, not making sense. He feels more socially inept than downright evil...

* * *

The successful defeat of the Hazuki-like Konoka and Blaze Setsuna would unfortunately only mark the beginning of Negi and Becky's true trials... for you see, the fourth shadow had long claimed its victim. The shadow was no ordinary one, for unlike the others so far, the person it was imitating was not only aware of its existence, but tapping into its powers as well.

Rei Tachibana stood impassively against the setting sun, with Chao and Satsuki sleeping behind her. Her shadow was cast long... the shadow of a megalomaniac. She adjusted her glasses. "So let's see if this universe is ready for... an Eggman Empire." If her speech was indication of anything, it was the fact that things are rolling right into place for one Dr. Ivo Robotnik. And unless you're the type who roots for the bad guys, this didn't look good at all. What exactly is the mad doctor up to, and how the hell did he find out about this universe? You'll have to tune in next time!

* * *

Mesousa and Motsu, completely oblivious to the turn of plot twisting events, were playing checkers. And of course, Mesousa was losing.

Horribly.

"You need to step up your game," Motsu chided.

"I don't have any game to step up," Mesousa sobbed.

Motsu moved one last piece, taking Mesousa's last piece on the board and obtaining victory. "I win! You LOSE! Good day, sir!" Motsu began to perform horrible dances just to taunt the miserable rabbit.

But for no reason at all, Mana Tatsumiya, still holding a slight grudge from the last episode, showed up beside Mesousa. "Frogs shouldn't have such crappy victory dances."

"You could summon Armageddon that way," Zazie murmured, appearing on the opposite side of the rabbit.

"Six points."

"Sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Motsu asked. "I'm just keepin' it real—AUUUGGGHHH!" -KABOOM- As if God himself was punishing the frog, a random blast of darkness came and blew him to smithereens—yes, that same darkness Cygnus launched at Eva at the beginning of the episode. When the fireworks were over, there was only a smoking crater and one very flat and burned Motsu at its core.

Mana turned over to Zazie. "On second thought, I will reward you with one (1) internets."

Zazie shrugged, although there was probably a smile on the inside somewhere.

Poor Mesousa, however, was still hopeless. "I know what goes around, comes around, but that doesn't help matters at all!"

&!X

"Hey everyone... this is Rei. Fat lot of good I get... the first starring episode with me and I'm now the vessel of the world's most irritating take on the mad scientist cliché. Next time: 'I'm Sick of All This Goodness, Give me Chaos Instead!" By Rei. Or Eggman, if you wanna look at it that way. But hey, at least he shares my raw ambition."

(YES, FINALLY. I hope I can consistently update this between returning school and WLDM.)


	6. I'm Sick of All This Goodness by Rei

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Chapter 5: "I'm Sick of All This Goodness, Give Me Chaos Instead!" By Rei**

A cold gaze. An evil grin.

Somehow, Rei Tachibana never felt more alive.

_Hey again, GPs! -thumbs up- for tuning in today!..._ The faint background noise of the TV could still be heard.

Tossing her hair back, Rei pulled on the gloves, the red jacket, and the black pants, and found herself staring at a remarkably female version of the madman who's shadow had attached to her body.

"Oh ho! Ms. Rei Tachibana," the shadow, moving independently from her, announced. "My conjecture was correct. You can resonate with the darkness of your own shadow! That foolish boy thought he could outsmart me, eh?"

"Perhaps," Rei said distantly.

._..directly from the source of OUR THE MR. YUJI NAKA (Man of the Year 1999-2008)!_

That T.V was somehow both amusing and annoying.

"Shall we get moving? I'll be glad to show you why it's so good to be me." She could practically feel the smile form on the shadow's face.

"Consider it done." Rei answered.

_We think it's our the nice_. Rei cut off the T.V just as that sentence ended. It was time to move.

--

"The red, yellow, and blue Chaos Emeralds," Negi whispered. It was early in the morning, the rising sun giving the sky an orange hue. The three shining jewels rotated in front of him as he examined them. Becky, Setsuna, and Ichijou were there in his room as well. Konoka was cooking breakfast, and Asuna was asleep. "Each wielding great magical power—perhaps greater than that of the Star Crystal. If seven of them are gathered, they can perform great miracles. Question is, why are they here?" _And why now?_ He added in his mental anguish. _I may be getting close to finding out the secret of those Crystal Shards, but Cygnus-san won't let me..._

"The Cygnus freak has something to do with it," Becky answered, for once not hot-headed about the subject. "He hid them, and he understands the nature of all those shadows we've been dealing with. He's up to something, and I'd like to find out what." She turned to Negi. "As long as he's around, you won't find out anything about whatever that Star Crystal is about. We have to take care of him first."

"Cygnus is also a bondage hentai." Ichijou stated randomly.

"That's kinda scary," Negi added.

"U-um, let's not derail the conversation," Setsuna said quickly. "Anyway... what's with all the portals to the different dimensions?"

"That's likely caused by the Chaos Emeralds..." Negi said, allowing the chaos emeralds to stop rotating. "...maybe something Cygnus did. I don't really understand his logic. He's after the chaos emeralds, yet doesn't attempt to steal them from us. He apparently likes Rokugou-san, and always seems to hover around her."

"I'm getting worried about Rokugou, though," Becky frowned. "Cygnus seems to have some sort of effect on her... I honestly would've preferred if she DID have something for Igarashi-sensei?"

"Who's that?" Konoka asked. She had finished cooking and now settled down everyone's food, including leaving a plate for Asuna, who was still asleep. That changed however, when she sniffed the food. She practically slid off the bed and towards the food like a slug.

"A fellow teacher back at home. She drinks too much and has this bad attitude about her. Maybe Rokugou likes bad people..." Becky made a face. "But Cygnus is really overdoing it!"

Asuna mumbled something while she ate her food, still half asleep, but no one noticed... or cared.

There was a knock at the door.

Negi got up and went to answer it. Opening the door, he saw Nodoka. "Ah! Nodoka-san! Good morning."

"G-good morning, Negi-sensei," Nodoka answered in her soft voice, bowing slightly.

"How's everyone else?"

"I don't know what Miyako-san is up to, but Himeko-san is still sleeping in the twins' room. Both Rei-san and Rokugou-san left this morning."

"What? Left?" Becky heard "Rokugou" and "leave" in the same sentence, and like a paranoid parent knew exactly why that was wrong: Cygnus. She dashed over with lightning speed and knocked Negi out of the way, causing the poor boy to crash somewhere in a corner. "W-where?! I hope she left with Rei! She can't go out on her own! What if Cygnus finds her again?!"

"B-Becky-san..." Negi groaned in the corner.

Somewhat surprised by Becky's forwardness, Nodoka stammered a bit. "U-um, Rokugou said something about a lake..."

Becky twirled and stomped towards Negi. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she asked him, desperation creeping into her voice. "Where's a lake on this campus?!"

"Becky-san, I know you're concerned but Rokugou isn't in any danger—" Negi's speech was stopped abruptly when he caught his staff glowing out of the corner of his eye. It shook a bit before falling down, seemingly pointing in a direction. "On second thought..." He leapt away from the blond girl and swept up his staff. "Everyone, stay here. If I'm not back in half an hour, use the Chaos Emeralds. Becky-san, let's go!"

"Already done!" The two of them stayed even as they bid a quick goodbye to everyone and practically stormed out of the door.

There was an awkward silence as Asuna stretched and finished her plate. For the first time, her eyes were actually open. "...did Negi just leave? With the Miyamoto brat?"

Konoka nodded.

"WHAT?!" She raged, her hair adding to the effect by making crazy jagged lines everywhere. "I don't care what he just said!" She dashed over and began to put on her clothes. "WE'RE GOING AFTER HIM!"

Setsuna prepared her sword. Konoka did... something to make her look badass.

Nodoka said, "I'll come too!" But was stopped by Ichijou.

"You have to stay here." Ichijou said sagely.

"But why?" Nodoka asked, puzzled expression clearly on her face.

"If you don't Cygnus will turn you into a bondage hentai too." Ichijou answered with a straight face. "There aren't enough Chaos Emeralds to go around to stop him."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Nodoka sobbed Mesousa style.

"Honya-chan, just wait here! If anything goes wrong we'll call you!" Asuna said as the four of them bolted off after Negi.

Nodoka stared after them for a short while. Only when Haruna showed up, somewhat groggy, did she react. "I hope they'll be alright."

"Negi-sensei left with Becky-sensei again, didn't she?" Haruna asked.

Nodoka slowly nodded. "Everything happened so fast... but I'll be stronger next time."

* * *

Cygnus stood atop a giant lily pad over in Mahora. Gazing into the cleanly blue lake faintly reminded of his adventure in Azure Lake. He felt something here, perhaps the power of a Chaos Emerald. However, only the lake and the morning sky greeted him. "I don't get it... that fool talked about getting here... could he already be here?" He whispered more to himself. "Eurgh, I'm already too zetta slow!"

Suddenly feeling a presence, he whirled around. Rokugou was at the bank of the hill, waving at him. "Cygnus-kun!" He thought he even heard a slight giggle.

"Huh? Rokugou..." Cygnus blinked, unaware of the faint blush at his cheeks. _She... actively sought me out? That kinda surprises me..._ "Hey..." he answered back, barely audible to her.

So he was even more surprised when her eyes grew wide. Pointing a finger, she cried, "Watch out!"

In a split second, he turned, wide-eyed, to see a metal wing of sorts swinging right towards him. "OH SHI—" He stopped in mid curse to flip over the deadly metal wing. He shot a glance to let Rokugou know he was safe (and to make sure she was safe as well) before looking over to see... a giant robotic swan. It stood tall, perhaps about three times Cygnus's size. It seemed to gaze at them through red, robotic eyes and its skin and plume was all shiny, metallic skin, seemingly in a way that imitated his swan guardian. Talk about a thin line between imitation and mockery!

And on top of that swan's back stood Rei Tachibana. Cygnus hadn't seen her before.

Rokugou however, did. "Rei-san?!"

That was answered only by her sinister chuckling. "Oho, so you do recognize this body after all. I was wondering if this girl was connected to the blue-haired lass I met with dark boy over here," She adjusted her glasses, and they gleamed ominously. "I told you I would be here some way or another!"

Cygnus recognized that tone of voice. "YOU," Cygnus hissed. "You have no freaking manners whatsoever... why do you think I've defied you so far? GO THE HELL AWAY."

"How about 'no'!" Rei retorted, mocking Cygnus's speech patters and causing the boy to snarl. "Besides, it's fun looking at the absolutely mortified face of your girlfriend over here!" To which Rokugou's face turned red and the girl tried to stutter something out. Too bad it failed miserably. _So she _does_ like him back?_ She pondered mentally.

_This makes things fascinating!_ The mad doctor on the other side said. _Since the brats you talked about aren't here, play with them!_

_Fine_, Rei's grin disappeared for a split second as she flipped over a lid, reared back her hand and did an Epic Button Press. She smirked as the hum of the robot swan signaled its engagement in battle mode. "Get ready to be _schooled_!" The swan extended its wings, and the feathers at the edge turned out to be deadly missiles! A swarm of them charged Cygnus, and the boy was ready to sidestep out of the way before he remembered that Rokugou was behind him.

Very bad news indeed.

The good news was Cygnus was prepared to address cheap bullshit like this, so he swept a hand out. "COME GUARDIAN!" He bellowed. The swan form appeared from his back, and then swept forward to take the heat from all the oncoming missiles. It moved unflinchingly as the mass of explosions tore at its front body, but to no avail. With that done it went behind Cygnus, ready for its next command. "Tough luck, bastard!" He shot at the possessed Rei.

"Keep praising yourself, you still haven't hit me yet!" Rei countered. "Besides, my Egg Cygnus is better than your dark knock off!" She pressed another button. The colossal swan opened its beak, and a massive fireball shot down towards Cygnus. He knew that if his lily pad platform was gone, he'd have to fight on land and possibly endanger Rokugou. Snarling, he swept his guardian and smashed the fireball back and out of sight.

Cygnus did not like this indignation. "OH HELL NAW YOU DIDN'T!" He opened his mouth real wide. "YYYYEAAARRRGGH!" Energy gathered into his mouth.

Rei blinked. "What the hell is he doing...?"

Rokugou face-faulted before adding with a bit of nervous laughter, "He's chargin' his lazah."

Cygnus fired the Mouth Beam of Death right into the face of the robot swan.

"He's firing his lazah," Rokugou added.

The blow struck the swan in the face, but rather than destroy it, the massive Egg Cygnus only recoiled back a bit. It shook this pain off easily and Rei cackled. "Try again, why don't you?" The creature dived into the water, leaving only its back (and Rei) exposed. "I designed this thing to be resistant to you!" She slowly made her way to the opposite side of Cygnus. The boy dared not attack, seeing as the girl's body was hostage. "HEEHEE!"

The swan of darkness heard, rather than saw, the missiles coming for him. The bad news was that they were underwater. The worse news was that they were heading straight for the platform he was standing on. Cursing his luck, Cygnus called his guardian and had it perform as an impromptu jet ski as the missiles sailed straight for him, destroying the pad in the process.

Weaving across the lake, Cygnus dodged the missiles as they crashed into the water below. He turned to face the Egg Cygnus again. A flutter of wings, and MORE missiles came his way. He jumped up, "COME GUARDIAN!", and deflected the assault once more. His guardian went back to being his jet ski. Cygnus aimed his right arm and shot a blast of darkness at the robotic swan once more. More recoil.

"Not bad," Rei answered as the swan dived once more. They swapped positions on the lake, staring at each other all the while. Cygnus shot a glance at the bay again—OH SNAP. Rokugou was gone!

"But you don't pay attention, do you?" Rei rose her hand part way up. Cygnus looked to see what looked like a large robot bee carrying Rokugou. "Instead of blasting all my creations to smithereens, how about we have a talk instead?"

"Help!" Rokugou cried.

Cygnus clenched his teeth. The good doctor had him topped yet again.

"That's a good boy!" Rei smiled, baring her teeth. "Now how about—"

A sudden blast of fire knocked the robot bee out of the sky, causing it to crash and explode. Rokugou sailed towards the water.

"Rokugou!" Cygnus moved to save her, but someone else was faster.

"TEL MA... AMORIS!" A swirl of magic symbols appeared under the girl, and her fall slowed to a stop. Negi Springfield swooped in and caught the girl, taking her back to the relative safety of the bank. "Rokugou-san... please stay back." Negi softly commanded.

"We got it from here!" Becky added, a sneer on her face. That dropped when she turned back to face Rei. "Rei-san! Get a hold of yourself! Don't let that shadow win!"

This was only met by sinister laughing.

Cygnus's impatience cut it off, however, when it started to exceed fifteen seconds. "Get on with it!"

"Tch, how unfair," Rei tossed her hair again. "So the child geniuses, my potential archrivals from this world, finally show their faces! Negi Springfield! Rebecca Miyamoto!" Each kid's eyes grew wide as she announced their names.

"Who are you?!" Negi asked sharply.

"Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotik, the greatest scientific mind of my world... and soon yours," Rei took a sweeping bow, making sure to look as menacing as possible while she did it. "I've been keeping tabs on you, boy, and your girlfriend-slash-partner-in-crime ever since the dark boy arrived on your world after betraying me!"

"Betray you?!" Cygnus asked incredulously. "I had no intention of even serving you from the start! You have no FRIGGIN' MANNERS!"

"I do TOO have manners!" Rei stamped her foot. A wonderful, awful idea popped up in her head again. "Why don't I show you my manners and invite you down to my base? I have a really cool aquarium and candy!"

"Huh?" Becky was taken aback by this.

"Really?" Negi and Rokugou mirrored each other, far too optimistic for their own good.

"NO! (Or at least I don't have candy!)" Rei pressed a button, and two things happened, both of them very, very bad.

One: A giant whirlpool happened. This in effect dragged Cygnus in.

"Cygnus-kun!" Rokugou broke away from Negi and tried to reach for the boy.

"Rokugou! Don't—AIYAAAHHH!" Both of them were now sinking in the whirlpool.

"Rokugou!" Becky screeched.

Which now led to thing number two: a robotic hand grabbed Becky. "YAAAHHH!" She screamed.

"Becky-san!" Negi panicked. He hopped on his staff and chased the damsel in distress and everyone else as they disappeared into the massive whirlpool. By the time it was over, only a small ripple in the lake remained.

That was too bad, as a now awake Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Ichijou were rushing towards there. "Negi!" Asuna yelled.

"We're too late," Setsuna stated, biting down on her lip.

Asuna banged her fists on the ground in frustration. "Stupid Negi! Stupid Miyamoto brat! Why'd they have to leave us?!"

"That's a terrible place to have a honeymoon," Ichijou randomly observed.

Asuna, so morose over her failure to guard Negi had no time to deal with Ichijou and thusly nearly flew into a rage against the girl. "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!"

Ichijou held out a shiny jewel—the blue Chaos Emerald. "We stop the 'honeymoon'." She pointed to the lake where they disappeared. Asuna noted the faint ripple of the lake and the strange light shining within it. "We still have the power." She tossed the blue emerald to Asuna, and then passed the yellow and red ones to Konoka and Setsuna respectively. She did an Epic Finger Point towards the lake. However, before she could issue the command, Asuna beat her to it.

"Chupa team! ATTACK!" Asuna bellowed, her hair making Epic Movements. What looked like a possible sprint into the water actually ended in a strong and steady march towards the warp hole. Oh well.

* * *

"UUWWAAAHHH!" Negi screamed as he slid down the water-drenched slide. The boy eventually sailed right off of the slide and into a very large pool. He had to struggle in the water a bit before he got his bearings. Once he did, he swam for the surface. "Bwah!" Gulping in as much air as possible, thanks to the surprise of crashing into the water, Negi regained his lost breath. He scrambled for the "shore": a platform that led to another room.

The water trickled down the boy as he stood up once more. He found himself looking at a vast underwater base, with various technological machinery operating at the background. The pool he just crawled out of seemed to be connected to a vast network of brown pipes, likely pumping water all over the vicinity. What amazed Negi most of all, however, was the rather huge and beautiful view of the sea. Turns out that indeed... he's in deep-sea water, and it looked like he stumbled upon an underwater factory of sorts... an Ocean Base.

Much to his disappointment though, he was alone. Likely the possessed Rei had already made off with Becky, and he still had no clue what happened to Cygnus or Rokugou. "Becky-san... Asuna-san..." He whispered to himself. Sighing, he made his way deeper into the base. Maybe that Dr. Eggman was in here somewhere...

* * *

Negi continued to walk alone, uncertain of the layout of the base. Pumping pistons, endless water pipes... everything here seemed to twist and turn in some strangely organized way. He would've quickly figured out where he was going had he not been so worried about Becky and so morose over his failure... "Becky-san... I screwed up..." He could feel his eyes water. It seemed like he wussed out a lot these days...

"Negi-sensei." A gentle yet firm voice called out.

A bit weary because of the new location, Negi whirled his staff and aimed it menacingly at the person behind him, registering the voice rather than what was said. His staff was glowing faintly. He wasn't about to be caught with his figurative pants down...

Sucks for him, because they fell down anyway when he saw who was at the other end. "A-Akira-san?!" His mouth hung wide in shock. Talk about the last person you expected to see—wait a minute. "I don't know why, b-but I feel like you being here makes perfect sense."

"That's because it's underwater, sensei," the swimming girl carried a simper on her face. "I'm not sure how I got here. I was looking for Misora-san, because we were going swimming together in that lake. Next thing I know, I'm here." She glanced to the side wearily. "Beware, there are dangerous robots crawling around here as well."

"Robots?" Negi asked. _That Dr. Robotnik must be a mad scientist... kind of like Hakase-san, except more insane. I can't do anything with Akira-san around though..._ That chain of thinking was quickly defeated, however, when he saw that there was a mechanical eel slinking out of a hole in the wall. "Akira-san! Watch out!" He cried.

Akira turned to see the eel lunge at her. Not enough time to react... or was there?

Firstly, Negi decided in that moment that Akira mattered more than keeping his secret, so he first fired a blast of electric magic, stunning the creature. Akira could only stare in shock (no pun intended, I SWEAR) as the eel twitched a bit, then saw Negi and lunged past her in an attempt to bite him. Negi twirled his staff to counter attack, but turns out he didn't need to do anything either.

Like a vengeful Mario, Akira stomped the creature before it could reach its target, crushing its head with one blow. The robot ceased to move and the rest of its body slumped immediately afterwards.

Negi and Akira each stared at each other for a moment to process what they had just seen. The jig was up for both of them. "AWAH?!" The both chorused. "You're a mage?!" "You're that strong?!"

However, Akira cooled off first. "Things actually begin to make sense now."

"Ah, I'm sorry," Negi rubbed his neck abashedly. "I'm supposed to keep this a secret."

"Likewise," Akira answered with a simple bow. "I guess we really need to get going."

"Right," Negi looked further into the base. He had no clue where he was going, but he'd be damned if he was going back without Becky. He motioned for Akira to follow him. "We need to look for Becky-san, I think she was captured here..."

"Captured?" Akira asked. "By those robots?"

"Most likely..." Negi answered. "But we can't stick around here. We've got to find her." And with that, he marched off.

Akira took a moment to gaze forlornly at her shadow... or what should be her shadow. It looked far too watery to be her own, and yet... nothing else seemed to happen. It still moved like she did, and yet...

Tossing aside her misgivings, Akira followed Negi deeper into the base.

* * *

"Asuna!" Konoka called, worry somewhat betraying her normal face. Setsuna had a slight look of worry as well, but Ichijou once again only stared with that deadpan look of hers.

An irate Asuna spit out a fish and climbed out of the pipe they just arrived from. The gigantic underwater base was filled with not just machinery and water, but with annoying pipes and traps as well. Asuna had apparently run into one of them. "Dammit, what kind of place IS this!?"

"This underwater base is likely the house of some mad scientist," Setsuna mused. "Hakase-san would love this place."

"O RLY?" Asuna snarled sarcastically. "I'm sure she'd enjoy eating LIVE FISH while cooking up her experiments!"

"Asuna, we need to keep moving," Konoka said. She walked a few feet, however, when Setsuna caught something dangerous out of the corner of her eye.

"Konoka-ojou-sama! Watch out!" With lightning speed, she long-jumped over to Konoka and pulled her out of harm's way as a large ink blast hailed from above.

"Awah?!" Konoka blinked at Setsuna saving her life. "W-what was that?"

That turned out to be a red octopus-like robot with helicopter blades attached to its head. It was hovering nearby, and as well brought backup in the form of a few friends—other robots. Two of them were just like it, all the others on the ground seemed to resemble more vaguely human shapes. The octopi aimed their snouts at our heroines. Safe to say that these certainly weren't friendly robots.

"You clowns want it? BRING IT!" Asuna flashed her Chaos Emerald, and used its power to draw her pactio's abilities. With that power... she got her suka form. "What!" She screeched in her childish voice. "That's not even fair!"

"Maybe I'll get luckier," Konoka focused, drawing the power of the emerald. With that, she was granted her armor form. Smiling, she pulled out her whip-like weapon. "Hehe," She struck first. A robot taking aim at the group quickly met its end as Konoka wrapped the weapon around its legs and pulled. The robot sank without its legs as support and quickly crashed, rendering itself useless. Nowhere near finished with her badass combo, Konoka grabbed yet another robot with the wooden whip and swung around, crashing a few other robots as well. She dodged to retaliatory fire of the other robots with ease, twirling with finesse that would make Makie proud.

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna tried her own hand. Using the power of the Chaos Emerald, she got... her cosplay card! With her sword ready Setsuna charged towards her foes.

"Secchan!" Konoka called from atop one of the very confused octopus robots. "Use your epic fail attack!"

"What?!" Setsuna was distracted for a moment thanks to the shock of Konoka telling HER to use... what? Fail? Like Makie? Didn't matter, as she was still running right into the group of robots. "AIYAH!" She tried her best to skid to a stop, but by now it was too late. She crashed straight into the horde, somehow taking out all of the robots on the ground in one fell swoop. Somehow Konoka's distraction turn into a moment of epic genius, or in Setsuna's case, epic failure. The barely conscious Setsuna popped out from the rubble, dizzily moaning, "Kono-chaaaannn... that's not fair..." Konoka could only giggle as she sent the robot she was on top of crashing into a wall by having Ichijou tug her whip and catch the blade of the creature, forcing it to spin out of control.

"Hey! You still got two left!" The tiny Asuna pointed at the two octopi still in the air, spouting ink jets as they got closer to the group.

"Ah, I know a super hero that can take care of that," Ichijou smiled.

She picked up Asuna and threw her at the robots in the air.

"AIIYAAAHHH!" Asuna screamed as she plowed through the robots and caused them to crash into the ground. She however, had a slightly more graceful landing. Smiling at the defeat of the robots, she crowed in her tiny voice, "That's right! I'm a _super hero_!"

"That means you need to get a move on before it's nap time," Ichijou advised as the rest of the group sprinted onward.

Asuna blinked, processing all of that before she realized what was going on. "WAIT!" She scrambled after them.

* * *

"...-kun! Cygnus-kun!" The boy could barely make out a sensation of being gently shaken and slapped. The darkness seemed to evaporate around him as the soaking wet boy returned to consciousness and rose like a zombie.

"Thank goodness..." Rokugou whispered, a smile on her face. "I... I was..." She began.

"Tch, I'm kinda immortal," Cygnus gave a groggy but feral grin back to Rokugou. "You'd think a bit of water would screw me over? I'm a _swan_ for crying out loud!" He looked her over. "I'd be more concerned about you. Are you all right?"

Rokugou stepped back a bit, blushing slightly. She nodded.

"Heheh," Cygnus's usual nasty grin grew softer. "Look at this mess I got us into..." He gazed into the sea, the mechanical hum of the factory being nothing more than a somewhat pleasant and very faint background noise to him. "The Doctor uses this place as one of his many bases... but seeing as its actually active, he just may be here. Your friend is just a puppet. Normally I could simply detach that shadow from her... but that looks like it won't work."

"Huh? W-why?" The blue-haired girl asked.

Cygnus suddenly walked down the corridor they were in, coming to a stop only when he opened a door. His bared his teeth as he said, "I think Eggturds got his hands on a shadow. Seeing as he lacked the means of extracting the emerald, he corrupted it instead. That wouldn't mean anything, normally, but..." Cygnus looked down beyond the railing of what appeared to be a massive circular stairway. Both of them appeared to be in a massive circular room, with the stairs they were on making the top of what seemed like five stories. However, the bottom floor was still clearly visible, with a rather large blast door under part of the steps. It was there they saw the possessed Rei.

She had surrounded herself with a slew of robotic guards, sleek and somewhat humanoid in design. Furthermore she was standing atop a walker that stood above her guards. At her side was Becky, who was bound by some sort of metal ring.

"Becky-san!" Rokugou nearly hissed in concern.

"Wow, she's really stooping that low, huh?" Cygnus snarled. "No wonder... it feels like it's not just Robotnik doing that... part of this is her acting on her own free will!"

"What?!" Rokugou said incredulously.

Cygnus's rueful smile returned. "Yet another fool seduced by darkness. Pity it's Eggman's darkness talking and not my own."

"R-Rei-san wouldn't do that!" Rokugou stepped up to her friend's defense... only to second-guess it. "...would she?" But that charged right back. "Rei-san has always been ambitious, maybe that's why she's acting this way... but she really wouldn't do that!"

"Let me ask you a question then," Cygnus turned to Rokugou, his eyes bright with a rare, honest type of glare. "Despite this... do you believe your friend Rei to be a good person? Minus this whole Robotnik deal?"

Rokugou had no doubts about that. Rei may have been a more tough-love type of figure, considering her refusal to help Becky cook that one time, but that was to make sure Becky was earnest. She too often helped people, although usually in the most blunt or cruelest ways... But deep down she knew Rei was a good friend just like the rest of their group. "Yes!" She answered.

Cygnus's grin returned. "In that case, maybe we can work something out!" He took a quick survey of the robots. "He wouldn't expect me to pull a direct confrontation, so how about we show them a party!"

Cygnus focused. "Partner... Sayaka Suzuki. Show me the power within you!" The usual dark soul pinprick, the dark globe... Cygnus focused, grabbing the card he was looking for. "Contract... ACTIVATE!" He pulled out the card. With a blast of light, Rokugou was once again a maid. "So let's bomb that assmonkey!" I'm sure Cygnus meant baboon—

"I MEAN ASSMONKEY."

Rokugou wasn't so certain. Was he really going to— "C-C-Cygnus-kun, wait! D-don't—"

"Let's do this!" Cygnus grabbed her hand. Taking a running leap, both he and Rokugou sailed off the edge and began to plummet down below. Cygnus held Rokugou tight to make sure she wouldn't get hurt by the crash landing. However, leave it to Cygnus's dumbassery to make the worst entrance ever.

* * *

"How do you like this place?" Rei had her back turned to Becky, gazing at the vastness of Eggman's base. "Considering all that he's done with the place, it looks pretty cool actually."

"R-Rei?" Becky asked timidly. "Is that really you?"

"What if I told you I haven't been entirely gone the whole time?" The taller girl turned back to face Becky. The Eggman influence began to become more apparent. "I mean, after all, she's got a great mind, almost like me!" It seemed like the shadow itself was speaking this time around. "Even you... both you and Negi Springfield are child geniuses of the likes I have never seen, except maybe that fox boy. But you don't know who he is, so that's irrelevant." She dismissed that thought with a wave of her hand, more or less imitating the shadow rather than the other way around.

Something quickly clicked in Becky's brain. Most victims of the shadows so far had been completely unaware of their actions, enslaved by the darkness in their hearts. And yet Rei seemed to be acting much like herself, only slightly eviler. It was as if the shadow was guiding her rather than controlling her... but that's not possible! Could it be... "Rei-san... you're LETTING him do this to you?!"

"So what if she IS?" Rei was practically in her teacher's face. "It's almost brilliant, what darkness in the heart can do to people!" With that, she laughed maniacally.

Becky cowered, sobbing cutely once more with the "hau hau". You probably would too if a loved one completely lost it and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about it... or yourself.

Rei completely ignored what I just said and continued. "Heh, once Negi Springfield is in my grasp as well, I'll start moving onto your dimension and taking it over. And both of you will get to help me! Isn't that nice?"

Becky seriously wanted to do the usual defiant hero route, complete with nasty swears, but unfortunately she was in no position to. The best she could do is swallow that fear and return a nasty scowl worthy of Evangeline. "I bet even Cygnus would show up before I wind up helping you," she managed to put out with a great deal of bravado.

"Wanna bet?" Rei adjusted her glasses.

"I bet two dollars! Then Negi will show up and beat the crap out of your ugly self, and you can leave Rei alone!"

"Bold words, little lass!" Rei retorted. "But something makes me doubt Cygnus would be bold enough to try and take down all these robots!" She made a gesture towards the large army of robots currently surrounding them. "Besides... I don't think Cygnus likes you!"

Lady Luck shined on Becky that day. Or maybe she just really hated Robotnik.

"LEEERROOOOYYYYYY JEEENNNNNKIIINSSSS!" A dark comet soared down in front of them and crashed right in the center. Like the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Eggman's forces were wiped out with cataclysmic effect, darkness tearing through all of them like a knife through butter. When the wave of darkness was over, nearly all of the robots were scrap metal.

"W-what?!" Rei gazed to see a swan-like form slowly open up, revealing Cygnus, who had just let go of Rokugou and slowly rose. The boy shot the possessed girl a feral grin from the side.

"So Eggman, how about you fork the girl over and I promise I won't tear you apart."

A self-satisfied smirk crossed Becky's face. "Pay up," she said.

"Dammit!" Rei plucked out two dollars and put it in Becky's somewhat outstretched hand. Then Rei realized what she was doing and snatched the money back. "You're my _hostage_! I can't pay _you_!" She turned to her robots. "What the hell are you doing?! ZERG RUSH THAT FOOL!" She snarled, pointing at Cygnus.

The robots took aim and fired, but Rokugou had already put up a shield. The shots harmlessly bounced off as Cygnus skidded out of sight. Streaking around the robots in a flash of darkness, he sliced them to pieces with his dark powers. Another tried to score a lucky shot, but Cygnus fired a powerful blast and knocked him a new one. The shattered pieces of that robot crumbled and tumbled at the feet of Rei's platform as the Devil's Swan finished off the last of the robots.

Becky looked hopeful.

Cygnus looked confident.

Rokugou looked like she always did.

Rei looked pissed. But that quickly changed when she snapped her fingers.

The blast door opened, and two bee-like robots zoomed in. Their wings were jetpacks instead, and they looked like they had vicious pincers for teeth. Rei only pointed, and the robots understood.

You see, unlike the past robots, these guys were faster... and smarter. They aimed their stingers first. But rather than charge them like Cygnus expected, they launched an explosive orb instead. Only the fast reaction of Cygnus's guardian kept him from being blown to chunky kibbles and bits.

"Rokugou! RUN FOR IT!" Cygnus screamed.

She didn't need to be told twice. Nearly yelping as she dodged a dive bomb from one of the bee robots, she sprinted into the corridor.

Cygnus, still thinking fast, bounded up to the machine and picked up Becky, ignoring Rei. He bounced off as an orb of death whizzed by both of them, exploding somewhere in the distance. Cygnus landed on the ground and skated as fast as he could in pursuit of Rokugou.

Rei only laughed. "Try as you might, you're not fast enough. You can't outrun the Buzz Bombers forever!" The angry bee robots tailed Cygnus.

What did Becky do the whole way? Scream off the top of her lungs of course.

* * *

Negi and Akira kept moving, trying their best to evade the wicked robots that pursued them. They hopped up and ran along a wall, avoiding the rapid fire of the robots behind them.

Suddenly remembering his staff, Negi whipped it out in front of him and got on top. "Akira-san! Get on!"

"Okay!" She smoothly hopped on top of the magic stick, holding on tightly to Negi as he sped away from his mechanical pursuers.

* * *

"I wanna ride that one!" Asuna pointed to a giant water slide to their left.

"Asuna! We can't do that!" Konoka pointed out. "We don't know—" Too late. Childish suka Asuna was already sliding down. "...where it goes."

"After her," Ichijou-san cried in the most unenthusiastic voice possible yet using the most enthusiastic gesture.

"Hang tight, ojou-sama!" Setsuna cried as she grabbed her charge and plunged down after Asuna.

"SEECCHHHAAAANNN?!" Konoka wailed as they both sailed down the slide. Safe to say she did not like where this was going. For the love of chaos SHE was supposed to wear the pants—no wait, that comes later.

Ichijou focused for a moment. "It's all about precision," she said to herself. Taking a moment, she dived into the slide, going faster than anyone else who left. This wouldn't end well.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Becky screamed at Cygnus. Safe to say she didn't enjoy being carted away to Chaos-knows-where by an archfoe of hers. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Would you like to become Eggbait again?" Cygnus snidely asked.

Becky could only shake her head.

"Figured you wouldn't," Cygnus got back to catching up to Rokugou. Using the powers of darkness, Cygnus shattered the bonds on Becky, letting the metallic parts fall to the floor. "Be grateful. Rokugou asked me to rescue you."

"Eh?" Now this was something shocking. _Cygnus_, taking a request from _Rokugou_?

"Becky-san! Thank goodness you're okay," Rokugou smiled at her teacher.

"Rokugou..." Becky nearly mumbled.

"Keep your eyes peeled, those robots are still around," Cygnus saw a robotic shape leap at them, but a quick blast of darkness dispatched it easily. He clenched his teeth as robotic debris fell apart around them. "Let's keep moving!"

"Cygnus-kun? How about there?" Rokugou pointed to a water slide.

Cygnus looked for a moment. "Well..."

Becky looked mortified at the thought of the giant slide. "I-I-I don't wanna go down there!"

That request was denied easily. Cygnus saw a troop of robots headed in their direction, and one of them had a rocket launcher. "Looks like we have no choice!" The dark boy pushed Becky down the slide and, along with Rokugou, slid after her, just as a rocket came sailing into where they stood moments before, like a typical action movie!

"AIIYYYYAAAHHH!" Becky screeched as she sailed down to her supposed doom.

* * *

Negi and Akira swept down a chasm, now confident that they lost their pursuers. "I think we can focus on finding the others now."

Akira had already beaten him to it. "Negi-sensei, look there," She spotted Asuna and her group sliding down one of the water pipes.

"Asuna-san!" Without even thinking about it, Negi immediately dived towards the girls and steered his staff until he was parallel to them. "Asuna-san! Are you okay?"

"Negi!" The suka Asuna cheered.

"Huh?" Akira blinked at the tiny boar-ified Asuna.

"Oh no!" Negi shouted. "Chaos Emeralds don't guarantee an armor card?"

"Negi-sensei!" Setsuna called out. "Doesn't look like it," she answered his question. "Huh?" It looked like she spotted something.

It took Negi a moment to realize that they were sliding parallel to another slide, and on that slide was— "Becky-san!"

"HELP MEEE!" She squealed.

"Hay guys whut's goin' on in dis topix?" Cygnus slid into view, Rokugou hanging on to him from behind. He slurred in a very southern American accent, "I think y'all'se were lookin' for this brat right here, 'm I rite?" He pointed to Becky. "Well here! Have her back!" With ease, he picked her up and threw her onto Asuna, slowing her down just enough to have Konoka and Setsuna collide with her. Setsuna's head knocked into Negi's staff, just enough for Negi to lose control and fall off—right on top of Konoka. Akira, lacking magic, simply fell behind everyone else, still holding Negi's staff. Then to add literal injury to insult, Ichijou finally caught up to everyone at breakneck speed, and they all sailed down the slide in a jumbled heap.

"AAWWAAAAHHH!" Everyone screamed as they sailed down in a jumbled Katamari heap.

"HAAAHAHAHAHA!" Cygnus laughed at them. "Toodleloooo!"

Becky popped out of the heap long enough to yell "CURSE YOU, CYGNUS!" just as the slides parted directions.

Rokugou didn't like his attitude either. "That was mean," she pouted and began to repeatedly sucker punch the boy.

The bad news was Cygnus couldn't pay attention to where he was going at this rate. "R-Rokugou, don't—" A last sucker punch caused him to fall out of the position he was sliding in, just as the slide ended. Bad karma for him. "EEEYYAARRRRGGHHH!" Both of them sailed straight through a runway and Cygnus head first into a wall. Sucks to be him.

* * *

'KERSPLASH'

Seven bodies hit the water in full force. Because everybody was intertwined in a mass of bodies, it was difficult to get onto the shore this time...

Akira to the rescue! Using both her amazing swimming skills and her strength, she helped the writhing mass of bodies onto dry, metallic land. Everyone flopped like a fish out of water as the strength of the emeralds left the three transformed girls and reverted them back to normal.

"Uguu-," Negi rubbed his head.

"Negi!" A now normal Asuna hugged him.

"Asuna-san..." Negi smiled.

"Stupid Negi!" She sucker punched him in the head. "Don't go running off without us!" She used her harsh tone to mask the worry in her thoughts. And just to add to that, she whirled over to Becky. "That goes for you too, Miyamoto brat!"

"Hey, I left in a rush looking out for my students!" Becky retorted defensively. "I wasn't exactly expecting an underwater base of doom!"

"Right," Asuna muttered sarcastically. She looked over to see Akira, the only person still in the water. She was leaning on the platform everyone else was on, and she calmly waved back. "...Ookouchi?" Asuna blinked.

"Why is Ookouchi-san here?" Konoka blinked.

"Well, ummm..." Negi rubbed his neck nervously.

"I got lost," Akira answered. She handed Negi his staff back. "Negi-sensei and I helped each other out."

"That's right! And uhh, I think she knows about magic by now," Negi added quickly, trying to detour the subject from Akira herself as she wished.

"Shichimi and Motsu will not take this well," Setsuna said. "Perhaps you need to form a contract as well?"

"I can't do that. Kamo-kun's not here," Negi answered somewhat worriedly.

"Maybe we'll find him when we get back. Hopefully before that dreaded frog finds us."

"Geez, looks like another girl gets to join your army," Becky muttered to Negi. The boy could only sigh at that response, but could say nothing else. She got up for a moment and looked around. "It looks like were closer to the lower levels of this base now."

"I take it that's why everything looks darker?" Asuna asked.

"Exactly. Deeper under the sea, more pressure, darker paint job, huge blast door that likely leads to the boss room—wait a second, that door?!" Becky saw the huge door at the end of the rather wide and dark hallway. "It looks like the control room! We could find that Eggman jerk in there!"

"Eggman?" Asuna asked.

"You mean this place is a twisted Egg Factory?" Konoka added.

"In a way," Negi muttered. "I'll show you once we find him."

"That looks easy," Ichijou surveyed the area and began to march forward. "Maybe too easy."

Akira looked back at the pipes and slides. "We can't exactly go back." _Well maybe _I _could, but going alone would defeat the purpose..._

"Well let's go FORWARD then!" Asuna bellowed. The group recklessly charged forward, ready to break down the door and open up a can of whoopass on the unsuspecting Eggman when—

Suddenly, a cage bar slammed behind them, sealing them away from what little escape they had. Secondly, a T.V screen slowly protruded in front of the large door. When it stopped, Rei's face appeared on the screen. "NOT SO FAST, NEGI SPRINGFIELD! I'VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD!"

"Rei-san?" Konoka blinked.

"She's possessed by a shadow!" Becky cried. "She thinks she's Eggman!"

"Shadow..." Akira muttered.

"Who are you, trying to use a girl's body for your own ends, you jerk!" Asuna shot at the screen.

"You're the mad doctor Negi-kun was talking about!" Konoka gasped. "Why are you in her body?"

"Ignoring all that innuendo, I can answer that with a few verses of song," Rei's lopsided grin did nothing to placate the angry/worried faces of the girls and Negi. "I'm the epitome of bad and all things gone wrong, please listen to my story as I sing you this song. Cygnus says 'I'm demented' and he refuses to listen to my plans, but with those Chaos Emeralds I'll take over this land!"

"No," Asuna deadpanned.

"That song reflects your true nature to us very clearly," Setsuna observed.

"I think that song is gr8.8," Ichijou stated.

Ironically only Ichijou's comment set Rei off. "Don't do the h8.8!" Rei suddenly took a nasty grin. "Why don't you clowns take a dip in the white Labyrinth. You'll get to face your... 'f8.8'!" She once again flexed an arm before making yet another Epic Button Press. At once the floor opened up below our heroes, and they dropped down into the white abyss below. As their screams faded away, the possessed girl spoke once more: "I'm proud to be me."

Dr. Robotnik's insidious plan remains unchallenged—what fate awaits our heroes? And how will everyone else fit into the picture? Will Rei ever be free from the Doctor's possession, must less find the will to try and break out of it?

* * *

Kurumi yawned and stretched. The morning was good. Despite being in the creepiest collection of their child teacher's paraphernalia known to mankind, she rather liked the dorms here. She looked over to see that Makie was staring at a letter, her face etched in mortified shock. "Makie?" Kurumi tried.

"S... Sasaki Makie... fails at life!" Makie trailed off in a broken voice.

"Oh dear..." Kurumi walked over, looking at the note. "'Dear Makie, I trust that you will look after the plain girl in our room. Business has called me away and I'm afraid I must be away from Negi-sensei until later this evening. The fact that I had to write this letter instead of talk to you directly makes me wonder just how lazy you've gotten! What if our guest wakes up before you do? That kind of thing makes me say that you fail at life, Sasaki Makie! Signed, Ayaka'." Of course, once she finished, only one thing mattered. "I'm plain?! Awww," she moped, and began to sing her own broken lullaby to console herself.

The supposed 'plain' girl sulked as she dragged herself into the bathroom, hopefully to get ready—and look less plain. Kurumi was still sulking even after she saw that the mirror did not reflect herself but rather a black hedgehog with red streaks in its hair. Red eyes regarded her as she moaned, "I'm so plain I don't even show up in the mirror..." Then logic clicked in, if only briefly, and she saw that even if she couldn't see herself, why was she staring at a black hedgehog? "AH!" She stepped back in horror.

"So you finally noticed," the black hedgehog spoke. "Take a look at your shadow."

She was afraid to. But sensing that she had no choice, Kurumi looked anyway. Her shadow was no longer her own, but rather the outline of the black hedgehog in the mirror. "What?!"

"Lend me your physical form," the creature spoke. "And perhaps you won't be so 'plain' anymore."

Who is this mysterious hedgehog, and why has he appeared as Kurumi's shadow? Better yet, what kind of deal can Kurumi truly strike with this figure? What does this have to do with the plight that Negi, Becky, and the others are currently in? Better move fast, Kurumi, Negi's days look to be very short in number! Tune in next time!

&!?

"Hey guys, this is Kurumi! Why does this hedgehog want to take the form of some plain girl like me? Do I finally get to join in on what everyone else has been up to for the past four episodes? Next time: "Don't Bother Trying to Deceive Me, I Know Who I Am." By Kurumi! Wow, that's a pretty deep episode title for me to come up with..."

(Hrrmm... a bit late, and considering I needed no major edits... damn you, school! Damn you.)


	7. Don't Bother Trying by Kurumi

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Episode 6: "Don't Bother Trying to Deceive Me, I Know Who I Am" by Kurumi**

Curled up like a cat, Himeko slept contentedly between the twins. Her snores were soft and could only be described by the following sounds: 'SNNNOOORRRRRRR' "Maho maho maho maho maho..." The twins had found it amusing for an entire twenty minutes last night when they had actually stayed up past her, but the soft manner actually lulled them to sleep as well. Unfortunately, for the sake of the story, this cute scene must unfortunately be interrupted.

The three of them were the only ones to leave their door unlocked over the night, so naturally a panicking Kurumi could only enter there to spread the horrific news that a black hedgehog had possessed her shadow. "H-Himeko-san! You gotta help me! Some sort of crazy black thing is latched onto my _soul_!"

"Maho...?" Himeko stirred awake. "Ahh... Kurumi-san..." Her fool's hair seemed to flick towards the girl. "Haven't seen ya around much..."

"I haven't seen you around either, but that's besides the point!" Kurumi was pratically yelling now, and Fuuka and Fumika began to wake up as well. "I've got a deranged shadow, and it's going to eat my soul!" Fear was now apparent in the girl's eyes.

Now awake enough to comprehend the problem, Fuuka blinked and spoke first. "A shadow's got you...?" She gasped as she saw the shape of the shadow over in the corner. "It's the chupacabra!"

"Is it really the chupacabra?" Fumika asked, crawling to get a closer look.

_They know something you don't_, this was the first time that the shadow had spoken since it had struck that deal. Since Kurumi had taken the typical response and panicked before she could consider what was going on, the shadow had no choice but to wait it out. It could possess her by force... but that wasn't how things worked with him. It'd waste too much strength he'd need... _Figure out what's going on_.

Kurumi could've gone delirious by now. Chupacabras, shadow possession, her friends hiding from her—wait, why was a voice in her head actually making sense? This was what it felt like to be possessed? "Wait a second," she said, clutching her head and wanting the world to stop. "What do you mean by chupacabra? What the hell is going on?!"

Fuuka and Fumika looked between each other. Of the girls who arrived with Becky, only Kurumi was still oblivious to magic, but considering that she was straight in the middle of it and still conscious (if only somewhat sane), that ideal of keeping her oblivious was fading fast. "We can't really say," Fuuka answered slowly.

"We're bound by a secret," Fumika added.

Himeko only chuckled nervously. "Well, Becky-san kinda swore us to secrecy, so despite you being the only person that doesn't know, we can't tell you anything..." Suddenly, a revolutionary idea popped up in her head, her ahoge popping straight up with it as well. "But I can tell you about the crabs! The crab meat buns are delicious!"

_They're lying_, the voice simply answered.

It was all she needed to know. She was being left out, likely because she was too plain to add to this adventure. And her friends wouldn't tell her a damn thing. But why?

A dejected Kurumi rose, gave a sad smile, and simply said, "I see how it is... I'm not important enough, am I?"

At once the twins and Himeko saw a rather large problem, and worse yet they couldn't do a thing. "N-no, that's not it!" The twins exclaimed.

"It's because it will melt your mind unless you talk to that cute boy!" Himeko tried, making hand-clawing motions. But by that time Kurumi had already stalked out the door, leaving them dumbfounded. "Kurumi-san..." Himeko whispered.

"Will she be okay?" Fumika asked.

"It's usually Becky-san who lifts her out of her depressive mode... eh? Where IS Becky-san? And Negi-sensei?" She looked around in confusion. "It's kinda silent."

"Let's look for them!" Fuuka said.

"We'll find them and cheer up Kurumi!" Fumika added.

The three of them, ignoring the fact that they were only in pajamas, raced off to find their teacher. Of course they wouldn't be successful, but why ruin the fun?

* * *

Kurumi walked back into Makie's room, dejection on her face. Sitting down and burying her head in her chest, she moaned, "Why...? Am I really that unimportant? Are they really going to just let this shadow consume me? I'M IN DESPAIR! BEING SO PLAIN AS TO NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY ADVENTURE HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!"

_Such is the state of the average girl,_ the voice of the black hedgehog was back. _Maybe I should have picked someone else_.

"Eh?" A now recovered Makie blinked, staring at the sullen Kurumi.

"Maybe I really am going insane..." Kurumi mused. "You know what, shadow thing? I'll take your deal. But just one question."

_I'm impressed_. That voice answered. _But what question would that be?_

"Why me... of all people?"

Y_our heart called out, and I was the one that answered_, that shadow answered. _There are six others like me. Three of them however, resonate not just with their host but with the person they mimic, making it sort of a two-way spiritual connection. I am one such shadow. I'm here because I have a mission to accomplish_.

"What mission?" Kurumi asked.

"Huh?" Makie got closer. "Kurumi-san...?" She threatened to poke her.

_I'm looking for the faker._

"Faker?" Kurumi and Makie chorused. Kurumi did a double-take when she realized Makie echoed her. "Awah! M-m-Makie-san! I-I was just thinking out loud!"

"I may be a Baka Ranger, but I'm not THAT stupid! Your shadow's all crazy!" Makie answered.

Kurumi stood for a moment. She composed herself before she answered, staring intently at Makie. "I don't know what's going on anymore... but today, THAT WILL CHANGE! I will no longer be just some third rate damsel! I want to rise to STARDOM, and this shadow will help me! Is that so wrong?"

Makie blinked. A compelling argument she couldn't, or didn't disagree with. However, she felt there was one thing... "I... I want to join you!"

"Huh? Why?" Kurumi asked.

"You inspired me! I feel like I just went through a hot-blooded shounen manga training sequence!" Her eyes sparkled brightly.

It was about this time the shadow exerted a bit more control. Kurumi felt her body become lighter and somehow stronger. She seemed to temporarily lose control of her own voice as she saw herself say to Makie, "Feel free to come along... if you can keep up."

Makie nodded vigorously.

_I'm about to make you pull some dangerous things—follow my lead if you want you and your friend to make it out alive_, the voice instructed as the girl left the room and headed towards someone else who might be more helpful.

"Okay... But who are you?" She cast a glance at her shadow, and noticed Makie was looking at it as well.

The shadow seemed to sweep a bow the moment he stopped. _I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog._

Kurumi simpered. "That seems like a fitting name."

_You have no idea_, the spirit answered.

* * *

Miyako squinted at the screen. Navigating the Internet in the dark was vicious against her eyesight. "Geez, I can't find a damn thing about Cygnus..." she muttered. "Other than the fact that he shares a name with the swan constellation..."

"How long are you going to take?" Chisame asked irritatedly.

"Just give me another minute! Dammit!" Miyako snapped. Chisame nearly growled in response, but saved it. She decided to be kind enough to loan Miyako her laptop temporarily so she could look something up, but only after hiding away her Chiu-chan references.

Miyako, however, suddenly got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Being practically psychic, the girl could tell it wasn't good. "Becky... Negi-sensei..." she whispered.

"What?" Chisame looked over.

"I'm done, you can have it back," Miyako said somewhat weakly as she suddenly rose and walked out of the room. Chisame blinked, considered shouting a question, but then thought nothing of it as she had returned to her laptop to return to her legend of Chiu-chan.

Miyako walked wearily, unable to shake off that terrible feeling that Negi and Becky were in mounds of trouble. Worse yet, in her current state there was nothing she could do about it—she heard the other girls run off with the Chaos Emeralds earlier that morning. "Dammit..." she cursed under her breath. However, she was presented with both good news and bad news.

The good news was that the plot device was still there.

The bad news was that Kurumi was there, and she was headed straight for her.

Unfortunately, bad news was first. "Miyako!" Kurumi bellowed with an authority she never held in her voice before. And judging by that, it certainly sounded BAD. "You owe me an explanation. Big time." Miyako didn't even notice Makie by her side.

"Kurumi?!" Miyako whirled towards the girl, mentally cursing her luck. However, that got replaced by both curiosity and logic. "Where have you been?"

"Neglected, no thanks to the rest of you," she answered somewhat coldly. "But now I see I've been left out of the loop. Tell me what's going on."

"What's with you?" Miyako asked, trying to get to the source of Kurumi's attitude. She flicked her eyes to the right however, and saw two things: Makie, who had stayed mostly silent (but still cheerful), and the looming shadow looking still more dangerous in the morning light. _Oh shi—_ Miyako twitched at seeing the shadow. The worse news was that said Shadow noticed, and so did Kurumi.

_Strike one_, Shadow mentally advised Kurumi. _Keep it up._

"So I take it you've seen my shadow..." Kurumi's face twisted into a sneer. "Hehe, something tells me you knew about this shadow beforehand."

Miyako saw immediately what she was trying to do, but she couldn't take the bait just yet. If she could calm her down... "Slow down, Kurumi! I don't know why exactly you're feeling left out, but that shadow's dangerous, we need to remove it right away!"

"Nah," Kurumi answered. Her face became serious. "There's something going on. This shadow, Himeko and those twins wanting to tell me something but 'bound by a secret', the other teacher Negi-sensei... By your eyes I can tell you know something too. What's going on?" She added this last sentence a bit more forcefully.

The girl with glasses could only blanch. Kurumi was persistent with that shadow influencing her personality, and she lacked the power to get rid of it. Maybe if she could just get the plot device...

Kurumi had her cornered in every meaning of the word. "Don't touch the plot device!" She commanded. "You're probably going to use that to get help, aren't you?"

"No!" Miyako nearly pleaded. "Becky's in TROUBLE!"

"Trouble?" Makie asked.

"She stuck with Negi-sensei and a couple of girls off in some other dimension and I have no idea what's going on, but I've got to help them!" She was speaking so fast she really wasn't watching what she was saying. Bad move considering the following she said. "The girls took the chaos emeralds, and I can't use the powers Negi gave me without them—" She unfortunately caught herself too late. Wow Miyako, way to seal Negi's fate.

"Negi-kun gave you _powers_? Cool..." Makie marveled.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?!" Miyako shouted at Makie in horror.

"You didn't notice? I was here the whole time!"

Something different caught Shadow/Kurumi's attention. "Chaos Emeralds?" Kurumi asked in Shadow's voice. "So they ARE hovering between this dimension and my own." Kurumi faced Miyako as the shadow of the hedgehog moved in closer. _I'm going to need you to take me to this Negi and Becky that you speak of. It's highly urgent._

Kurumi nodded in agreement. "I bet Becky will tell me what's going on!" She flipped over Miyako and grabbed the plot device.

"Wait what?! You can't go! It's too dangerous!" Miyako warned.

Kurumi answered that with a smile. "The shadow will guide me, so leave it up to me to bring Becky back!"

"I'll help rescue Negi-kun too!" Makie cheered. "We'll return!" And with that the plot device activated, and both Kurumi and Makie disappeared, leaving a confused and slightly enraged Miyako back at the dorm.

She did calm down enough to silently wish them luck. They were going to need all the good luck they could get.

* * *

"...nus-kun!" He heard yet again between the conscious world and the dark dream land. Struggling to return to the real world, he staggered up before letting out an involuntary bird-like shriek. By the time he saw straight he saw Rokugou right in his face with a mixture of shock and sadness. Only when he put two and two together did he see that he had inadvertently shrieked in her face.

"Eep!" She quietly added.

"Uh." Cygnus blinked. Blush on her face, then his. "Sorry?"

She smiled as he returned to normalcy. "You're okay. You were looking kinda like a swan, but you turned back to normal after a while..."

_Oh shit,_ Cygnus cursed rather loudly in his head. _OH SHIT, did she manage to—last time only Smallboss—then that means—aw_ _**hell**_. However, he had no aim to deceive Rokugou on what he was. "Errmm, well, the truth is, I'm a swan."

"Okay..." Rokugou did not look horrified.

"You know, a cursed swan of darkness? A demon?"

"Sure..." Rokugou still did not look horrified.

"True form? Spread the might of darkness to all worlds?"

"I thought that was implied by your name?" Rokugou blinked innocently, still not horrified.

Cygnus crashed. "NO!" He suddenly clawed at the air, shouting at the heavens from below the ocean. "I'M IN DESPAIR! My reputation as a villain is sliding down into the abyss of LIGHT AND DESPAIR!" Cygnus, having little grasp on why Rokugou is not running away in horror at his awesome evil, felt a bit more of his sanity erode. "It's all your fault!" He pointed to Rokugou dramatically, shedding what looked like crocodile tears. "I was supposed to bring you into the darkness, but you're flooding my dark soul with LIIIIIGHT!"

Rokugou answers with a blush on her face and no eye contact. "W-well... y-you're admirable."

Cygnus made a face similar to what one makes when he or she has just made a huge bet—and lost, while on the inside some part of him feels like he has just won every lottery in the _universe_. Don't you just love inner turmoil?

Finally, he decided. The ultimate test to see if she really was that... important. "PERVERSION SIGN—HAREM MALE LEAD ACCIDENT!" Nope, not really. He tripped and crashed right onto her chest. Normally, that would be fifty kinds of bad moves but then again that's exactly what he was aiming for. The moment they finally recovered and her horrified blush was apparent, several black roses sliced at Cygnus's hand. The boy looked at the rose punctures as if they were little more than mosquito bites, ignoring the bleeding darkness and blood. "Oh dear."

"Afternoon tea with a green wind. Hailing from the Country of Mist—Love and bravery's Ambassador of Friendship." A swirl of a cape, and everyone's favorite effeminate mystery man reappeared. "They call me the Black Rose Baron!"

Cygnus groaned in irritation. "Not _you_ again. At least that Takamachi—err Takamichi dude would look cool kicking my ass. You're just a fruitcake."

"Ah, but a fruitcake would taste good to anyone who's starving," the baron wittily retorted. "Not to mention such lecherous hands on a fair maiden are just asking for a punishment."

"As I would imagine," Cygnus answered. "Listen. Get lost, okay? I'm not seriously doing anything to Rokugou." He waved his hand as if to dismiss the baron.

"Such as the cat telling the dog it won't eat the mouse, hmmm?" The Baron adjusted his top hat. "I still have doubts on your humanity, let alone your integrity."

It was all he could do from both sinking into a depression and flying into a darkness-driven rage.

Rokugou stepped up to the plate. "L-l-leave Cygnus-kun alone!" She shot at the Baron. "He hasn't done anything! Umm... not yet anyway," that rare strength in her voice fell by the wayside, leaving embarrassment to clean up the mess.

"Ah, I didn't realize you two were on a date! My apologies!" The Black Rose Baron bowed in apology. "Enjoy your time together!" The Baron spun on a heel and tap danced out of the room. Rokugou only stared with her lower jaw hanging out, her face red as a beet.

"Enjoy your AIDS," Cygnus groused, not even realizing he was holding Rokugou's hand now.

* * *

A tall wave of energy heralded Kurumi's arrival in the darker part of the Ocean Base installation. Both she and Makie landed gracefully onto the metallic floor. Kurumi rose and scanned the area. "Wow... where are we?"

_One of the Doctor's bases, back in my dimension_, the spirit version of the black hedgehog answered. _Doctor Eggman runs this facility; considering it's active your friends are probably somewhere in here_.

"Doctor Eggman?" Kurumi blinked.

Makie was too busy being enamored by the sea to care. "Wow, so cool..."

_Know that the good doctor is bad news—he's a mad scientist aiming for world domination with robots. _

"Wah, I feel like I went down the wrong rabbit hole to Wonderland..." Kurumi clutched her head in frustration from all of the information she was learning.

This pulled Makie out of her reverie. "Rabbit hole?! Where?!" She looked around frantically. She then spotted the large blast door and the still open hole before it. "Ah! There!" She walked to it and looked down. "Looks like a long drop..."

"Don't do anything foolish," Shadow warned through Kurumi.

"But what if Negi-kun's down there?" Makie wondered innocently.

"You can't jump down there in your current state." Shadow/Kurumi advised.

Makie thought for a moment. Hard to do for a Baka Ranger, but even they show some brain capacity every now and then. Suddenly, an amazing IDEA popped up. A Baka Ranger rarely had one of those! "I'll just shimmy down!" She pulled out her ribbon, and, with much dexterity, whipped it around an exposed pipe. Using the ribbon like a rope, she climbed down the chasm.

"Ah!" Kurumi clapped. "Nice!"

_Not a bad idea. But let's not be outdone_, Shadow answered. Taking more control over Kurumi, the black hedgehog simply had her jump and sail straight down the chasm and into the strange water in the white land below.

"Ah! Wait up!" Makie cried, shimmying down much faster.

* * *

"Ugh..." The female child teacher rubbed her head, coming to her senses in a strange white world. "Huh...?" She looked around, seeing what looked like ancient ruins... a labyrinth of white pipes and purple water. It looked like someone had taken some underground ruins, fashioned it into a sewer system and gave it a paint job. "Geez, where is everybody... are they okay?"

She shivered. It was one thing to be alone. It was another thing entirely to be alone in a strange sewer system in another dimension. "They could've sailed anywhere!" She mumbled, the worry creeping into her voice. This was simply not the best place to be alone.

Luckily for her, Dr. Eggman's robots decided to remedy that loneliness! Two robots burst out of the ground, drills for hands, treads for feet. The burrow bots advanced menacingly on the girl. "Awah!" Considering how powerless she was, she did the only sensible thing she could do: she ran.

And of course, the burrow bots gave chase. There was likely some Scooby-Doo-esque comedy sequence with Becky and the robots chasing each other through doors, but because I can't come up with anything funny, I'll let the readers imagine that scene.

Becky backed wearily into a corner, the robots closing in on her. Cowering in fear, pouted cutely with the usual "hau haus", awaiting whatever fate the dreaded robots had to bring.

Or not, because she saw an opening and sprinted straight out between them. "Better luck next time, suckers!" She sneered and flipped them off as she made her escape.

Except not really, because she tripped on an exposed tile and crashed face first on the floor. Damn, Becky, can't you make up whether or not you want to get cornered?

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Geez, you're no fun. But in any case, the burrow bots finally lived up to their name once more and burrowed underground. Becky narrowly avoided being crushed to death as they reemerged for another attack. Becky tensed to leap away...

...somebody showed up to save her the bother. "Disappear," Kurumi whispered, the black hedgehog manipulating her movements. She shoved her hand forward as she jumped in the air, and several yellow blasts shot out of her hand, tearing the robots asunder. "Easy enough..." She turned to Becky. "Becky, are you okay?"

"K... Kurumi?" Becky blinked. "How'd you get here? And how did you do that?"

"I got guidance," Kurumi answered simply. "My shadow's been overtaken by a black hedgehog named... Shadow, oddly enough. I'm still kinda confused on what's going on, but I think Negi-sensei might have some answers."

"S-Shadow?!" Becky pointed in horror.

"Relax, I have no reason or intention to hurt you," Shadow answered through Kurumi. "This girl came seeking answers, and so have I. We formed an alliance because of it."

Becky calmed down slightly. "What do you want then?"

"What's going on?! I kinda just followed Shadow's instincts so I have no idea where I am, or why everyone's being so secretive, or out of our group I'm the only one who doesn't know anything! And how much do you know about the Chaos Emeralds?!"

"Slow down!" Becky griped. "One at a time!"

"Okay. What's going on?"

Becky sighed.

* * *

"So Negi-sensei is a mage, and he's been looking for some sort of 'chupacabra' which may or may not know of the Chaos Emeralds and you've been helping him fight against some angry kid known as Cygnus who seems to have a 'kidnap Rokugou' fetish and now a Doctor Eggman has shown up," Kurumi summarized in one breath. "Is that right?"

"Yes," Becky answered simply.

"Geez, my head is gonna hurt _so bad_ when this is all over!" Kurumi sulked. "But at least I'm a little closer to getting what's going on."

"A LITTLE?! I JUST TOLD YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW!"

"I need time to actually absorb all that when this is over," Kurumi explained apologetically. "But thanks Becky. Right now, we need to look for the others, right?"

"Uh-huh," she was already walking somewhere deeper into the labrynth.

_Let's keep moving,_ Shadow added in Kurumi's head. _The other girl is close enough to where she can play catch up._ Kurumi nodded and followed Becky.

Meanwhile, Makie had FINALLY scaled down the chasm, but being the pseudo-failure she was she was much too slow, so by the time she got down Kurumi was nearly out of sight. "Wait for me!" She shouted as she ran after them.

* * *

"Wow... it's so beautiful," The pale-blue-haired Rokugou marveled at the sea before her. Cygnus too, stood before the giant glass panel, marveling at the marine life.

"It's been... ages since I've seen something like this," Cygnus added calm, somewhat sad voice. "While I live by the lakeside, I can't see all the cool creatures that live here."

"That's sad..." Rokugou added. "You must have been lonely..."

"Well, not really, but..."

"I'M SO RONERY!" That random cat in the soda machine crowed, swirling from out of nowhere.

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP?!" Cygnus aimed his fingers like a gun and shot the annoying cat straight in the forehead.

"Myaa?!" It screeched as it fell to the ground.

Rokugou backed away, although no one could tell if it was from shock, horror, or embarrassment. The Devil's Swan quickly noticed. "R-Rokugou, I didn't mean to scare you..."

Rokugou shook her head furiously. "N-no, I-I-I..." A puff of smoke, and she was back to her old self. Her stomach raged as a result, demanding sacrifice (read: food.). "Aww, I'm hungry... It's the hungry of the year, I can't even move..."

Cygnus sighed in defeat. "Dammit, I thought those weaknesses wouldn't exist in my version," he gently scooped the girl in his arms. "I'll find you something. The mad doctor has to sustain himself somehow..."

The strange cat, now a creepy green color, rose like a zombie, the hole still on its head. "You can find food in the computer room..." He slurred like said undead creature.

"Find the computer room?" Cygnus blinked.

"Find the computer room!" The cat continued to chant.

Cygnus took a moment to process this, then realized that he was taking a suggestion from a freaking undead cat. "Wait, WHAT. Why am I taking suggestions from Schroedinger's cat?! Screw you!" Cygnus, with Rokugou in tow, jumped up, pounced on the cat like a Mario enemy and sprinted off into the base, rendering the cat into two dimensional paste.

"No luck for me, mya..." The cat moaned, its feet popping out as it wobbled away.

* * *

Consciousness, returning, Negi slowly awakened.

Bad news right out of the bat: he was in a cage.

As he looked around frantically, Negi tried to understand his surroundings. He was on the edge of some sort of area, filled with what looked like a circular platform in the middle of a pool. There were several cages lined around the arena,but at the center was—

"Akira-san!" Negi shouted.

"Negi?!" He heard from one of the cages.

"Asuna-san?" He asked in reply. "Are you okay?!"

"Couldn't feel any better," she groused. "Space here is so tight, I feel like a sardine sandwich!"

"Huh?" Negi didn't get that at all.

"It's all about balance," he heard Ichijou say softly.

"Asuna, why would you say something like that?" the boy heard Konoka.

"Why else would I say that?! We're literally squashed together!"

"I get the point... but I'm worried about Secchan. She hasn't said a word since we woke up," Konoka said softly. She looked down at the girl. "And her face is all red. Are you okay, Secchan?"

Setsuna was NOT okay. Ever since she woke up, she found Konoka sitting on top of her, due to the tight space of the cage. While that wouldn't be a big problem, the manner in which she was sprawled on the girl gave her the worst, or in a twisted way the best view in the house. Setsuna, try as she might, could not push back the unladylike thoughts invading her head. "I-I-I-I... my apologies, ojou-sama!" Setsuna stuttered, her face still red.

"Secchan, I'm glad you spoke," Konoka answered. "I was worried I was smothering you or something..." She suddenly saw why her guardian's face was beet red, and everything made sense. "Ah! Secchan must enjoy the view!"

"N-no!" Setsuna denied vehemently.

Asuna, frustrated by both the tight space and the unresolved sexual tension, simply shouted, "Why don't you two just make out already?!"

Negi, who was both concerned for Akira and not interested in his students squabbling at a time like this, simply said in a slightly louder voice, "Why's Akira-san in the middle of the arena?"

"Wouldn't _yoooouuu_ like to know?" Negi knew that voice. He looked to see Rei Tachibana, her soul claimed by the malicious Dr. Robotnik. Her sneer was enough to pierce men's souls, but Negi was forced to ignore that, as the possessed girl was dangerously close to Akira. "Negi Springfield! Too bad Becky's not here, or else she could enjoy the party!"

"Robotnik-san!" Negi bellowed. "Leave my students out of this!"

"How noble," The mad doctor noted within the girl. "But I'm afraid I can't let them go just yet. First, I want to see just what you're capable of." She snapped her fingers. The floor from the cage immediately fell out dropping Negi onto the ground. He staggered a bit before recovering and that's when he noticed he was short two things: his staff and the Chaos Emeralds.

He saw his staff sailing towards him and he nimbly caught it with one hand. He saw that Rei was still smirking, however, when he saw the three Chaos Emeralds hovering around her. "Well now! Shall we get this party started?"

It was this moment that Becky made her appearance. "Negi!" She cried, rushing onto the scene.

"Becky-san! Are you okay?" Negi asked as the girl approached him.

"Yeah,"Becky said. "Ummm... wait, what about the others?"

"In cages you see here, Eggman-san is planning something..." Negi began, but Rei snapped her fingers again.

"Well, look who's joined the party!" Rei smiled sadistically. "Just the person I was waiting for!"

"YOU!" Becky pointed an angry finger. "You got lucky last time, but we're going to finish you off!"

"Is that so—huh?" Rei had begun her riposte when she noticed a second person enter the room. "Kurumi...?"

"M-Momose-san?!" Negi nearly panicked. "How'd you get here?!"

"You're slow," Becky noted, annoyed.

"Hey Negi-sensei," she said normally. "I was left out of the loop, but luckily my Shadow decided to lend me a hand. I'm here to pay the Good Doctor (tm) a visit."

"The plain girl decides to finally show herself in this world, huh?" Rei smirked, her possession now subsiding to influence rather than full control. "You're much too _average_ to play our games."

Kurumi sunk at this. "I'm even called plain by madmen!" she sulked.

_Don't let the doctor get to you; he's never good at mind games._ Shadow advised. _Let me take it from here. _Kurumi felt the darkness grow stronger in her heart. Deciding that it could get pretty dangerous, she decided he was right, and simply let the hedgehog take control.

"Cut that out, Rei!" Becky bellowed. "You can't let Eggdork make you do that!"

"How DARE YOU call me Eggdork!" The doctor raged from Rei. "You will all taste Chaos!"

"Chaos?" Negi blinked.

"I suppose you've heard about the water god Chaos! Or considering that we live in separate universes, you probably haven't!" Rei began, the emeralds hovering around her once more. "In any case, before I truly understood this creature's nature, I intended to use his watery powers to destroy the world and build a new empire. But that wouldn't happen... you see, Chaos betrayed me because it was consumed by hatred... A hatred that compelled him to destroy countless cities to avenge his fallen Chao brethren! Now, Negi Springfield! Rebecca Miyamoto! Annoying plain girl! Experience the hatred I felt (at 3/7ths power)!" With this, Rei let go of the emeralds, and they now circled about the fallen Akira. "Let the darkness overtake your heart, and let the Chaos awaken within you!"

And for the first time, Negi noted the watery shadow that lay underneath Akira.

Akira rose, her eyes still closed, as the emeralds circled her faster and faster. Darkness began to flow into her form. She suddenly snapped an arm out, and an emerald hovered above it. Another arm, another emerald. Then the third hovered above her head. All three began to glow, drawing in both water and darkness around the swimmer girl. Her eyes flared open, awakened as the hateful version of Chaos.

Negi got that sinking feeling that he was screwed.

This inspired several reactions. First was Negi's. "Akira-san!" He called out futilely.

"Ah! She's gone insane!" Asuna shrieked from her cage, her movement making things more uncomfortable for Konoka and Setsuna, but Setsuna more particularly. Setsuna's face was closer to Konoka's thighs than she'd ever dreamed of—or would have liked to be in the real world.

"She's got balance," Ichijou commented idly from her separate cage.

"This is very VERY BAD!" Becky screeched in horror as she stepped back.

The nightmarish water creature aimed a fist-turned-hammer and slammed down towards the child geniuses.

Shadow/Kurumi, however, was quick on the uptake. "Chaos Control!" Time froze, and she tore towards the two kids and scooped them out of harm's way. Time unfroze just as the hammer collided with the earth where they were standing just seconds before.

Negi clenched his teeth. "I can't play around anymore. I'll have to weaken Akira-san to remove the shadow! Becky!" In a legendary move, Negi left out the -san, and the girl could immediately tell he meant business, and what exactly that business was. The girl nodded and prepared herself. "Partner: Miyamoto Rebecca! Show me the power within you! Contract... Activate!" Becky's body began to glow as Negi pulled out another card.

Becky whipped out claws—she had her cosplay suit. "Kurumi— step back!" She whirled towards her student, temporarily forgetting the fact that she was possessed.

Shadow answered through Kurumi, somewhat shocking both kids. "I can handle myself. Work with me!" She "skated" on the ground, circling Chaos Akira as she launched another watery attack.

"Becky, circle the other way!" Negi shouted. He climbed up on his staff and began to hover skyward.

"Eh?" Becky blinked, but as she saw the creature take another swipe at Kurumi, she saw no choice but to comply. She scampered on all fours, circling around the pool before speeding up behind Chaos Akira and landing a powerful slash on the watery body.

Too bad it had no effect.

Chaos Akira made a wide sweep, forcing Becky to backflip out of harm's way. The possessed girl shot a hand forward, and a rush of water blasted Becky away. "AWAAH!?" Becky sailed backwards into a wall. "Oww..." she whimpered.

"Oh ho ho!" Rei crowed as Dr. Robotnik. "This is too good of a show to pass up! Keep going!" She pulled out a bag of popcorn and began to eat, watching in delight.

"Becky-san!" Negi shouted, ignoring the doctor. Focusing his anger, he remembered who he was attacking and why. "Tel ma... AMORIS!" A blast of lightning shocked Chaos Akira, long enough for Kurumi to perform a spin kick to her face. The water creature slid back in recoil.

Kurumi continued her combo. "Disappear!" Several shards of chaos energy shot forward, but by this time Chaos Akira had recovered, distorting her watery body to avoid the blasts. She then dove forward, slamming the ground in front of Kurumi and knocking her skyward. To follow that up, she aimed an arm...

Kurumi, or rather Shadow inside Kurumi, saw what was coming. "I don't think so!" She aimed her own hand. "Chaos... BLAST!" She countered the rush of water with a powerful beam of chaos energy. The stalemate ended five seconds later, as both attacks were negated. Kurumi landed on the ground.

Negi took this time to sweep towards the water monster, arm outstretched. "AMORIS!" He bellowed, firing a blast of magic at the creature. Chaos Akira dodged this though and shot tendrils at the child mage. The boy weaved between the watery tendrils of death, looking for an opening. "It's getting difficult for me to keep attacking her... at this rate, she'll...!"

On her grand debut, Baka Pink finally arrived. "Ah! Negi-kun!" She stopped a moment to catch her breath. "Cool... Negi-kun really can fly..."

"Eh?" Rei blinked.

"M-MAKIE-SAN!?" To say that Makie's presence was unexpected was an understatement. Deus ex machina was more like it. "H-how'd you even get here?!"

"This keeps getting better and better," Asuna muttered.

"Ah," Kurumi said. "In the excitement, I forgot she was following me. Sorry I forgot to tell you."

Negi just kinda shivered as Makie stepped forward, seeing Akira. "Akira-chan? Don't worry! I'll rescue you!" She cried.

"Makie-san, don't—" Negi began, but that was ignored. Not to mention that Makie may have not entirely understood the situation, but her reaction was no fool's. With her ribbon, Makie shot forward and latched onto Akira, pulling her out of the watery body. This was just enough to have Akira gain conscious thought again, and the evil darkness dispersed from Chaos's watery shadow. It attempted to lunge back in—

Becky would have none of that shit. Her potential for badassery could not be denied; she sliced through it with mighty claws, and the darkness dissipated for good this time.

Seeing opportunity, Negi dove forward. "**O Spirits, hear my call. Draw the shadows to the light, and separate light from darkness! **TEL MA... AMORIS!" A flash of light severed the water god away from Akira, and the shadow of Chaos rose into the third dimension.

"Eh? Makie-san..." Akira blinked. She saw her, and the shadowy form of Chaos as well. She addressed it. "You shouldn't let hatred overtake you. Those days are long over..." It stared back, some sort of sad understanding within it.

Negi blinked, not really understanding this exchange. But then again, maybe Akira had known this Chaos for a while now... Akira continued. "I guess you should return. Negi-sensei..."

Negi nodded, and pointed his staff. "Please head back to your real self, Chaos-san." Focusing his magic, he began the sealing spell. "**Weighted light, travel; go beyond the door and send it far away!** Tel ma... Amoris!" Chaos's shadow disappeared completely, leaving behind only a pale blue chaos emerald. Negi grabbed it.

"No way!" Rei/Eggman nearly jumped in surprise. "Some gymnast who fails at life comes out of nowhere and manages to upset the game?!" Makie sank in white shock at that. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Game's up, Good Doctor," Shadow taunted through Kurumi. She leaped into the air and landed in front of the girl. "Give it up."

"Not bad," Rei hissed, pressing a button. A door opened behind her. "Not bad at all. But I can't throw in the towel just yet. Toodles," and she fled through the doorway and up the stairs.

"She's not getting away!" Becky scrambled after her student, with Kurumi as well. Negi was about to do the same thing when he remembered his students were in cages. "Gah!" He turned back towards his students, cursing the fact that he ever forgot about them.

Negi scrambled to his students aid, while the now recovered Akira used her strength to help out Ichijou. "Is everyone all right?"

"I've had worse days, and I just now noticed I'm very, very hungry," Asuna moaned. "But I guess I'm okay."

"Same here," Konoka said, though with a more cheerful tone.

"We should pursue Miyamoto-sensei and Kurumi-san before they do anything reckless." Setsuna advised, long since able to ignore her hunger. "And we still need to defeat that Doctor Robotnik..."

The gang turned to Makie, who still stared blankly in shock from being called a failure. "Makie-san..." Konoka waved an hand in front of her face, but there was no reaction. "This could be a problem, Negi-kun."

"I'll have to erase her memory at some point... it's too dangerous for the likes of Makie-san." Negi said. "But then again, she was the only one who could actually disarm Akira-san..." Negi rose. "Let's pursue the others." Asuna and Setsuna picked up Makie, and the group scrambled up the stairs."

* * *

Skating through the twisted labyrinth of the Ocean Base, Cygnus frantically searched for something... anything that would tip him off as to where he might be able to find something for Rokugou. Robots in his way were torn asunder with the greatest of ease. But things weren't looking good for Rokugou regardless, she had practically fainted. And already he could feel the desperation in his powers...

He spotted something. A kitchen? Bingo.

Cygnus burst in, taking out the lone robot acting as the post and smashing it in. Not even before the robot fell to the floor, the boy scrambled to the refrigerator. "Let's see... random meat, milk, snacks, strange paste... uhh... something quick..." He scanned through, looking for possible food. The doctor was surprisingly well stocked. "Aha!" He pulled out some yogurt. Not even bothering to use a spoon, he simply cleaned his hands with the darkness and scooped some of the yogurt, quickly pushing some into Rokugou's mouth.

With food now registering in her body, the young girl began to awaken. "Ah... delicious..." Her face flushed slightly.

Bad news: only now did Cygnus realize the rather suggestive method he was feeding the girl. He fought back a wave of rather perverted thoughts not suitable for a teen-rated fanfic, his twitching left eye the only thing betraying his relieved face. This was not gonna end well...

* * *

The dark, mechanical, and watery visage of the lower levels of Ocean Base greeted our heroes as they reached the top of the stairs. "We're back where we started," Asuna noted.

"Looks like they escaped through here," Setsuna pointed to an active door. "Be on guard, this place could still be booby-trapped."

"Right," The group walked in as the door opened, being met only by a calm sort of darkness. The atmosphere cranked up the tense factor by about five notches, though, and it only grew worse as they saw two familiar shapes. Becky was there, shivering, as she was back in her normal clothes. Kurumi as well had her hands on the ground, teeth clenched, as she were about to execute a football play.

"Wha... Becky-san?!" Negi saw the girl, and immediately knew that she was in trouble.

"N-Negi?" Becky regarded him.

"Negi-sensei, don't—" Kurumi warned as the group stepped into the room.

Too late. Robots sailed down cords like a special ops team in a Tom Clancy novel, guns of all kinds pointed at the heroes. The continuous and ominious clicking of weapons being loaded was like a symphony of dread and death, only foreshadowing the coming blood—

"GET ON WITH IT!" Asuna bellowed.

Damn, not you too!

"You never learn, do you Springfield?" Rei reappeared, the Dr. Robotnik persona in full throttle. "You fell right into my trap card yet again!"

"Eggman-san!" Negi called out. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You haven't figured it out by now? I'm going to make you join my army as I set out to rule the world!" She climbed up to the platform, twirling around as if she had won the lottery. "And since you can't stop me in your current form, there's no way you can deal with those robots!"

Negi tensed. This wasn't looking good.

"I know now that the majority of your partners are too weak... or should I say too hungry to use their powers—even with the Chaos Emeralds!" Rei added.

With this, Asuna challenged the mad doctor with a bluff. "How do you know that we won't bust out of here and raid your refrigerator? Or that we already did before we chased you?"

"Because," Rei's smile dropped. She then pulled down a screen, showing a picture of Cygnus and Rokugou raiding a fridge. "THOSE LOVEBIRDS ALREADY BEAT YOU TO THE PUNCH!" The gang of good guys only stared mutely as they saw the two of them attack the fridge.

_While he's distracted! _Negi noticed the doctor was still raging. Twirling his staff, he prepared a spell—

'BANG'

Like lightning, a shot blasted his staff right out of his hands. Negi clutched his hands in pain. "Give up," Rei said tauntingly. "You can't win. This world will soon be mine."

_Damn it... not even Chaos Control would be fast enough to evade everything without someone else getting shot, _Shadow hissed._ But... ah. Well what do you know._

"Eh?" Kurumi blinked.

_We're not screwed after all._ Shadow grinned internally. Using Kurumi, he called out. "Hey Doctor... since we're on the subject of playing card games, if you play your trap card, I play my Deus Ex Machina card."

"Huh?" Rei raised an eyebrow.

"Five... four... three... two... one..." Shadow/Kurumi counted down. She then snapped her fingers. Opportunity came knocking.

"Sup Eggman! If you think you can cheat victory by attacking someplace I'm not, keep dreaming!" A voice shouted.

Rei twitched.

_That voice... it can't be!_ Dr. Robotnik mentally shouted in horror.

A blue blur circled the room at lightning speed before coming to a stop behind the group. There he was, the supposed chupacabra of legend. A blue, slim body, red shoes, spines on his back, and light green eyes regarded the group. There was a faint aura of darkness about the figure as well. Most of all, however, was a trademark cocky grin still plastered on his face.

"About time you showed yourself, faker," Shadow grinned through Kurumi. _My senses were right. He was here all along..._

"S-Sonic the Hedgehog?! IMPOSSIBLE!" Rei stared in shock.

"Heheh," The cobalt wonder jumped up and slammed into a robot near Negi, causing it to crash into pieces. With lightning speed, he dodged the gunfire of other robots and tore through them as well. Now free, Shadow as Kurumi aimed a hand and let loose more Chaos Spears, tearing a few rear robots apart.

"Amazing..." Negi breathed.

"More where that came from!" Sonic slid down past Negi, leaped up and smashed into another robot with a flying kick.

"NO!" Eggman screamed through Rei.

"Heh. Hey, Negi Springfield!" Sonic turned to the child mage. "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed some of your strength, would you?" Sonic showed off a strange ring on his right hand. "I can cast a bit of magic if I use your unlock spell!"

"Huh?" Negi simply blinked. How...?

Sonic took that as an okay. With that, he clenched his fist and let the ring glow. "Ras tel ma scir Magister..." With that, he grinned and sped towards Rei. "**Weighted light, travel; go beyond the door and send it far away**!" He leaped up, aimed his right fist. "TEL MA... AMORIS!" With immense power, he slammed Rei right in the chest with a mighty punch. Magic and light flared as Eggman's shadow began to disappear.

"AUUUGGHH! HOW I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" The Robotnik shadow screamed as it was sealed away. With it, only a shining purple Chaos Emerald was left in its wake. Sonic landed just as Rei slumped to the ground, unconscious. The good guys had won once again.

"How...?!" Negi stared in shock. The so-called chupacabra, with some sort of ring, had not only taken a bit of his power, but used one of his personal spells as well! Every time one question's answered, another one shows up out of the blue!

"I'll explain that another day!" The jovial blue hedgehog answered as everyone else could finally move again. He looked around. "Two more chaos emeralds... The swimming lady had three as Chaos, dropped one herself , and Egghead's shadow has another. Five so far."

"There's seven, isn't there?" Asuna asked.

"That's right! Faker's shadow has one of them!" Sonic pointed at Kurumi's shadow.

Kurumi herself face-faulted at those words, but Shadow took over and responded. "Takes one to know one, faker. In any case, you should find the last one quickly and bring them back to our dimension."

"I'm already on it!" Sonic grinned. "I'll see you guys later, huh?" And with that the cobalt hedgehog snatched the purple Chaos Emerald and disappeared in a flash, once again ignoring Negi's cry of "Wait!" Geez, you'd think he'd learn after a while...

Something within Kurumi began to stir. A terrible feeling of darkness suddenly made itself known. "Oh god..." she said as herself. "What was that... darkness?"

"Eh?" Makie did NOT like the sound of that.

"Darkness... it's familiar. Cygnus is nearby!" Negi prepared his staff.

"And where Cygnus is, Rokugou will be there too!" Becky added. "Let's go!"

The group fled the room, boldly heading towards Cygnus's location. It looks like this episode's final confrontation is in order...

* * *

"Cygnus-kun..." Rokugou's face was once again red.

"Uhh..." Cygnus's cheeks had mirrored his newfound friend's. He found it kind of disturbing... he, the Devil's Swan, a harbinger of darkness, was having feelings for a girl. Luring in the darkness in everyone's hearts was his desire, yet this girl came looking for the light. Aside from all the Kingdom Hearts-esque babbling, there seemed to be truth in that statement. Was there really a light in his darkness? Maybe she was—

"AIYAAH!" There was a bratty squeal, scaring the two of them away from each other's faces. Rokugou and Cygnus turned to see a horrified Becky staring at the two of them, followed by a thoughtful Negi, a shocked Asuna, a blushing Konoka and Setsuna, a nonchalant Ichijou, a confused Makie and an angry Kurumi. "Y-y-you... get away from Rokugou!" Becky screeched, waving her arms frantically.

"B-Becky-sensei, th-th-this isn't what it looks like!" Rokugou tried to explain.

"Oh yes it is," Konoka sang sweetly.

"Don't get comfortable, ojou-sama!" Setsuna prepared a fighting stance. "You know what this fool is capable of!"

"You..." Shadow had more control over Kurumi this time. She flipped over the crowd and landed in front of everyone closer to Cygnus. "...you must be the Devil's Swan I heard about."

"Damn straight," Cygnus let go of Rokugou and stared down the girl before him. He glanced to his right and saw Shadow's silhouette where the girl's would have been. "Shadow number six... ye who are unworthy of being called number six even, fork over the Chaos Emerald within you and you won't get hurt."

This set something off within the girl. Speaking as herself, Kurumi bellowed, "Don't bother trying to deceive me, I know who I am!" She lunged. "Chaos Control!" Time froze for both her and Cygnus as she began to sail down towards the boy.

Cygnus saw something in that instant, and decided that the game was over. "Gloria en obscurum!" He focused a burst of dark energy and smashed Kurumi in the stomach with it, much to her horror. "**O Darkness, hear my call. Take in this evil, and crush it within you! Free all else to light.**" He looked into the eyes of Kurumi and whispered to the Shadow. "Go back to your dimension, and let the girl prove this on her own." With his free hand, he pointed downwards. "SUBMIT!"

The darkness left Kurumi's heart, and the fallen Shadow the Hedgehog began to distort and shrink into a void. "You better... hold your own... faker!" He grunted before disappearing completely, leaving behind what looked like a white Chaos Emerald. Cygnus swiped it with one graceful motion. Time unfroze, and Kurumi landed, staggering backwards.

"Your cheap guidance counselor's gone. All that's left is you," Cygnus had his feral grin back. "Do you still know who you are?"

With Shadow gone, Kurumi was simply an ordinary girl. She shrank, seemingly at odds against a boy much stronger than she, and worse yet not even truly understanding the situation anymore. But her thoughts returned. With that, a new determination, that, while typical and fitting of Kurumi, couldn't fit the situation any better. Swallowing her fears, she began to speak. "I no longer care if this is just some typical action, or if I'm still plain, but right now I can say... that I'm still me!" She sprinted towards Cygnus and performed a near perfect flying kick to Cygnus's face. The dark boy reeled back in pain before distorting... and beginning to melt back into darkness.

"Well done... Kurumi Momose," Cygnus appeared to strain in his speaking. He secretly flashed Rokugou another wink before turning back to the crowd of heroes. "But in the words of the world's most persistent losers, 'You may have won this round, but I'll be back'..." He completely sank into the darkness, the White Chaos Emerald still in his clutches.

Kurumi panicked and tried to snatch the emerald, but Cygnus was long gone by the time her hand smashed the floor. She sank into depression again, answered only by the pregnant pause between her and her classmates.

Becky was the first to break this silence. "Kurumi..." she said softly.

However, Makie was the one who turned the conversation into something substantial. "You're amazing, Kurumi-san! You truly do inspire me!"

Rokugou remembered the wink Cygnus gave, and now she could see why. "Kurumi-san is the hero of the year."

Asuna grinned.

"Pretty cookie-cutter action sequence," A now recovered Rei stood back from the crowd, smirking at the girl. "But you impress me. Welcome to the world of magic, Kurumi."

Everyone smiled and showered praise on the girl, who could only laugh at it all. Kurumi Momose, plain girl at times, but a unique person on her own!

"Don't mean to take away from Momose-san's awesomeness, but we still have work to do!" Asuna announced. "We know who the chupacabra is, now it's time to catch him!" Unfortunately, in the middle of her grand gesture, she heard her tummy rumble, reminding her of the immense hunger she had after that bout of magic. "...ugh. After we get food."

"Fast food restaurant." Konoka added.

"Raid." Becky snarled.

"Now." Setsuna concluded.

"If that's the case, then I guess we need to keep moving, huh?" Negi asked. "Let's get back to the dorms (and find something to eat)." Everyone began to leave, although Kurumi still didn't move, still stuck in the reverie of being hailed as someone different. "Kurumi-san!" Negi called. "Let's go!"

"Ah! Okay!" Kurumi snapped out of it and left after Negi. With only one chaos emerald's location unknown to them, and the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog showing himself as the supposed chupacabra, our heroes are now entering the most dangerous part of the race. Can they prevail against the enigmatic scheme laid out for them?

Speaking of schemes, Rei had hung back a bit ways. She softly muttered, "You may think you've outsmarted the good doctor, but the bad doctor's got you right where he wants you..." She pulled out a cellphone. "But maybe we can still amend that." She dialed a number. When the person on the other end picked up, she greeted the usual. "Hello... It went surprisingly well... Even _he_ showed up... I don't think that he's finished just yet... Well then, I guess we'll wait and see. See ya later." With that she hung up.

Is it a plot twist? How does she know this person? Tune in next time!

8888

"Hello... this is Ichijou. Sometimes I wonder how a chupacabra could be blue, or if there's any point in rolling around at the speed of sound. Next time: 'Pursuit of a Legendary Creature Is a Dangerous Art!' by Ichijou. I wonder if Becky-san even remembered to teach the rest of the class math..."

(Return to form, return to form! Life is busy, so I'm trying my best.)


	8. Pursuit of a Legend by Ichijou

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Episode 7: "Pursuit of a Legendary Creature is a Dangerous Art." By Ichijou**

"Sonic the Hedgehog. The Devil's Swan. Wow, Mahora's become a cesspool of legends," Evangeline remarked coldly, dressed in her kimono and stirring tea. Chachamaru was likewise preparing ramen. A calm Takamichi had also sat opposite of the vampire girl, calmly waiting for preparations. "I'd have to say, that whoever's pulling the strings to this little scheme is putting on quite a show."

"Huh," Takamichi simply responded. "It looks like what was just a legend here actually exists somewhere in another dimension. But are both of them truly legends here?"

"According to the reactions I got from that bondage hentai (she could practically hear the involuntary "NO!" Cygnus was screeching somewhere), it's not so much that they're the actual legends in this universe so much as they seem to fit them due to circumstance..." Eva answered. "A blue hedgehog is certainly not a chupacabra, but his looks and shadowy movement seem to fit the legend to a T. They haven't even bloody noticed that he isn't sucking people's blood, much less livestock. The dark boy, on the other hand, seems to fit his nomenclature, considering his swan guardian. But..."

Takamichi had a sort of mirthless smirk about him. "Something tells me that this isn't the whole story."

"The boy is but a little distraction from the Star Crystal, " Eva took another sip of tea. "The darkness he exudes may be different, but that power of his is far too similar to disregard. The style of that dark boy's powers remind me of a tale I once heard—a story of a formless demon called Mephiles."

"Mephiles?"

"Heh, a demon derived from Mephistopheles—'he who shuns the light'. Makes sense considering how obsessive that boy is over the darkness." Evangeline answered, "Mephiles the Dark was said to have been sealed away many years ago after a failed experiment with a mad scientist who tried to summon a god. However some time later he escaped, vowing to seek revenge against those who sealed him. Something so formless and evil would no doubt be attracted to all the darkness created from the stolen Star Crystal... but that's just a guess for now." With the ramen now ready, Chachamaru quietly served her master and her guest. "Eat up," Evangeline commanded.

"So you think there's a connection between this Mephiles and Cygnus, huh?" Takamichi regarded the girl as he easily sucked up his ramen.

"Probably. One thing that I'd need to understand further is how he associates himself with Rokugou." The girl coolly answered as she herself sipped tea. "The boy becomes a living paradox around her. It's as if she's the only reason he's actually sane."

"Oh ho? I think you'll like what I have to say," A voice boldly announced. Takamichi and Evangeline turned to see a caped figure in the doorway. "Afternoon tea with a green Mist. Love and Bravery's Ambassador of Friendship. They call me... the Black Rose Baron!" The dramatic figure swept down and sat equidistant between the two of them. "Would you mind if I sat here?"

Evangeline looked somewhat irate. She picked a black rose petal out of her tea, and said with quickly deteriorating tact, "Okay... as long as you keep your black rose petals OUT OF MY GODDAMN TEA!"

"Ah, my apologies."

With both speed and grace, Chachamaru also served the new visitor some tea. "Please, have some."

"Ah... I'm fine, thanks."

"Sit down, shut up, and drink your goddamn tea," Eva muttered, sipping on hers.

"I only said that because I knew you'd say that line," the Baron had answered wittily. As Eva let out a string of curses in response, the mysterious masked person continued. "It seems like the boy is already smitten by the blue-haired maiden. It appears he's trying to pull a Zeus to Rokugou's Leda. He was hand feeding her yogurt the other day."

"Just when I didn't think he could be more perverted," Takamichi shook his head. "It seems like everything is going okay, but we should still keep an eye on the boy just in case. If what Evangeline says about his connection to a powerful demon is true, then the young lady's safety should be of our utmost concern."

"Negi and his partners should be more than able to take care of Cygnus should he get out of hand," The Baron added.

"Oh please," Eva snarled. "They're too busy chasing after blue hedgehogs and trying to survive algebra to care about him at this point. If Cygnus doesn't bother them he could make babies with Rokugou before they even noticed." She turned to the Baron. "Besides, what's with you and the disguise anyway? We know who you are."

The Black Rose Baron didn't miss a beat. "You may know who I am, but my identity cannot be revealed in this story."

"There better be a freakin' sequel then," The vampire girl muttered.

* * *

"Hey, PAY ATTENTION!" Becky bellowed. "Do you want to pass this algebra madness or not?!"

The Tuesday session of the extra math lesson wasn't going as well as the child teachers had hoped. Granted, since the weekend adventures of spotting the chupacabra and dealing with the insidious plans of the Dr. Eggman shadow, things had returned to their normal hectic pace. But ever since they had gotten used to Becky's amazing math teaching skills, they had more or less went back to their chaotic selves, many still wondering if Negi and Becky would get hitched and run away on an underage honeymoon. After a particular bout of marveling over Negi and Becky's cuteness together getting so bad that several members had taken to shouting at Negi to "Put it in!" Nodoka had started crying in response, and Chisame and Evangeline (who had actually came to class that day) actually conspired to kill the entire class together, Becky decided she had enough. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" she had bellowed.

Lessons continued for a short while, but unfortunately that chance crashed and burned the moment Rei decided to wisecrack, "So guys, who wants to bet when he'll finally put it in?" The class had raged back to its chaotic self in seconds. Rei kept quiet, with a sinister grin to match.

"ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!" Class representative Ayaka bellowed. "How dare you insinuate such vulgar qualities to Negi-sensei! Simmer down and pay attention!" She whirled over to the mystic Ichijou. "As class representative of your school, why don't you exert more control over your classmates?"

The other class rep eyed her equal from her vintage point beside Konoka. She coolly asked. "Do you want me to? You're doing such a fine job; if _I_ had to act there would most certainly be **death**."

Ayaka's strong resolve was no match for the creepy countenance of the other class rep. The mortified girl could only sit down in silence. The uproar continued, although at this point some were now talking about the new class rep in town. "Holy crap! Somebody set _the class rep_ up the bomb?!" Kazumi Asakura asked in shock. There was all sorts of respect hailed for the new class leader in town. Becky sighed and waved the white flag. These people were _impossible_.

We cut to after class, where the sullen child teacher walked away, defeat written all over her features. "Huh, this is getting stressful... I might even have gray hairs by the time this is all over!" She sulked.

"Becky-san?" The gentle voice of the world's youngest and greatest ladies' man called out. "Are you okay?"

"Negi..." Becky turned to the boy. "Our classes combined would drive even the most hardened teachers insane!" She shivered as she clutched his hand. "They're all way too scary... And... I'm starting to feel homesick..."

"Becky," Negi did something the older girl did not expect—he hugged her. Smiling, he whispered, "I can imagine the feeling. I live a long ways away from home, and I miss it every day. And true, this class is truly daunting. But it's all you can do, huh? As I told you, Becky-san, I'll help you every step of the way."

This was so much of a shock, Becky's eyes watered. Not liking the fact that this boy had her completely enraptured, she simply stood back, accusing him with still watery eyes. "You're too kind, you know that? You're a bleeding heart!"

"My heart bleeds all over the place," Negi said in stride. "I guess it's how I am." Oh Negi, you lady killer, you! Becky pretty much couldn't do anything but hug him again. Negi patted her back. "We should probably check on the chupa team."

"Okay..." Becky softly added. Aren't they the cutest couple ever?

* * *

"Huh, despite all the people here and even the new additions, I can't help but feel something, or someone is missing..." Asuna furrowed her brows in her attempt to solve the mystery of her gut feeling. Indeed, there was quite a pack here in the Chupacabra Research Society. Newcomers Akira and Makie sat alongside the regulars and most of Becky's entourage was here...

"Where's Ichijou-san?" Kurumi asked the golden question.

"No clue," Rei shrugged. "After all she is Ichijou-san. I don't see the bookworm here either."

"I don't see Konoka-san around here," Akira observed astutely.

Asuna noticed this convenient un-roll-call and jumped in. "Geez, who else isn't here? Setsuna probably convinced her to go to fortune-telling club again. But why opt out now?! We're getting closer to catching the chupacabra!"

"Errm," Nodoka spoke up. "Haruna said she was looking for Yue Yue."

"Is this how things usually go?" Akira asked Kaede.

"More or less," The ninja answered.

"Okay, okay!" Asuna shouted, slamming the board and stunning everyone into a temporary silence. Satisfied, Asuna stood straight and addressed the team. "Our Chupa Team has been called to order... So! We have an issue here: we finally found the chupacabra! Sounds good, right? But unfortunately it won't be as simple as we thought. We've got to catch it."

"So the chupacabra is a really fast blue thing, right?" Rei asked. "How are we gonna catch it?"

"I can lasso it!" Makie offered, completely missing the point.

"Go home."

"Lure him in with meat buns!" Himeko crowed, her hands mimicking a crab's. "Or giant enemy crabs!"

"That's not helpful at all!" Rei hissed between clenched teeth.

"Glasses girl has a point. The chupacabra's a much faster creature than we anticipated. How can we catch the damn thing if it's fast enough to snatch bait before we even blink?" Asuna asked.

"Ooh! I know!" Kurumi asked. "Chaos Control!"

"Huh?" Everyone turned to stare at Kurumi.

"If we use Chaos Control, we can freeze time and catch it!" Kurumi said. "It's easy! You just take a Chaos Emerald and use it!" Helping her, Makie pulled out one from the collection of four they had. "Just take one aaannnddd..." Clutching it together, they yelled, "CHAOS CONTROOLLL!"

It didn't work.

"Ah?!" The girls sank in disappointment.

"You both fail at life." Rei stated in her usual disinterested tone. "That Chaos Control or whatever is a power specific to the shadow that possessed you. You can't use it."

Both girls froze in white. Ouch. Doesn't look like they'll be moving for a while.

"Excuse us," Negi meekly entered, as if trying to sneak past a sleeping guard. Becky was right behind him. And they were holding hands. Of course, I don't need to point out the fifty kinds of bad moves that was, because everyone else noticed.

"Ah! Becky-sensei and Negi-sensei are the couple of the year! How cute!" Rokugou marveled, even sashaying to her own words.

"Wah?!" They split apart immediately, shock on their faces. "Th-that wasn't what it looked like at all!" Negi tried to do the damage control like a Sony executive, but just like said executive, it was too little, too late.

Becky found herself next to the shy Nodoka. The girl, hands clasped close to her face, told Becky, "I admit you look cute with Negi-sensei... but I won't lose to you!"

"Eh?" Becky blinked.

"Umm, can we get back to business here?" Asuna tapped at the blackboard. "We still need to figure out how to catch the chupacabra!"

"Asuna-san... whatever you have planned, I'll be willing to help," Negi said simply. "...within reason, of course!" He added quickly. "I'm sure that we'd all like to catch that chupacabra too—"

"I'm not a chupacabra!" A voice complained over by an open window. The twelve people in the room turned to see the blue chupa—err hedgehog with an irritated look on his face. "I'm a hedgehog! HEDGE-HOG!"

There was a pregnant pause.

Asuna was the first to react. "It's THE CHUPACABRA! GET 'IM!"

"Oh, OH SHI—" Sonic hopped off his perch and split, with Asuna and most of the gang hot on his tail. The team showed their preparation for this memorial event (or lack thereof) by arming themselves with butterfly nets. The blue hedgehog is surely doomed! -coughYEAHRIGHTsputterhack-

However, just as Rokugou bringing the rear and chasing after her friends, Becky placed a hand on her wrist. "Hold it!"

Rokugou looked at her homeroom teacher in confusion.

"Rokugou, we're going to have to ask you to stay here," Negi said gently.

"But... why?" The girl asked.

"We don't want Cygnus making off (or out) with you again!" Becky answered sharply.

"Yeah, no offense to you, sis, but you're just walking bait if Cygnus decides to attack," Kamo added, coming out of nowhere as usual.

"Please understand, Rokugou-san," Negi said gently. "We're worried about you. We don't know what he might do to you; he might even try to use you against us." Negi twirled his staff, quickly muttering in Latin as he set a barrier around the school. "Tel ma... amoris!" Rokugou saw some light flicker outside. "So long as you don't go outside, Cygnus can't get in. Please understand, Rokugou-san..." Negi pleaded again. Becky dashed to the table and scooped up two of the chaos emeralds.

"I'm coming with you this time!" Kamo interjected, hopping on Negi's shoulder.

"Okay..." Rokugou said somewhat sadly. The two child teachers gave sympathetic looks as they dashed out the door and behind the rest of their class. The nice girl turned sadly back towards the mostly empty room. Makie and Kurumi were still frozen white for being called failures. Then there was that suspicious black substance on the ground... too bad Rokugou didn't notice it until she stepped in it. "Ayah!" She squealed as nasty dark tendrils wrapped themselves around her.

Kurumi and Makie still did nothing, as they were failures.

"HA HA!" Cygnus crowed, appearing in a wave of darkness. "Thinking you could outsmart _me_ by putting up a barrier, eh, Negi? Did you ever think of how that would work if I'm _already inside_ the barrier? Now have a taste of tentacle po—oh goddammit," Cygnus cursed his sudden massive nosebleed.

* * *

"Hey, Secchan..." Konoka asked. "Do you read much?"

Somewhat put off by the question, the Shinmeiryuu swordswoman took a moment before answering. "Ah... Aside from a few Shinmei texts, I haven't had much time to read for fun..."

"That's too bad, Secchan," Konoka turned her back on the other girl playfully as they strolled into the school's library. "We didn't skimp out on chasing the chupacabra just so I could go to fortune-telling club, you know. I wanted to check this library on some mythology."

The familiar bell chime echoed, and Setsuna and Konoka turned to see Ichijou there, her face calm and distant as ever. "Ah, it's the princess and her lady knight." One can only wonder if Ichijou is listening out for the yuri horde.

"Ah, it's my evil double!" Konoka returned in the same tone. Whether Ichijou cared or not, she showed no signs of it even registering.

"Ojou-sama, we shouldn't be using such comparisons," Setsuna advised. She then turned to Ichijou. "In any case, I'm quite surprised to see you here. What business do you have here?"

"Ah," Ichijou lightly smacked a fist into an open palm. "I was wondering why the lovebirds were together instead of chasing the strange blue rat. ("I'M A HEDGEHOG!" Sonic said somewhere.)"

"L-Lovebirds?!" Setsuna stuttered in absolute embarrassed horror. "What type of insinuation are you trying to make?! There is no such relationship between me and ojou-sama!"

"Huh, that sounds kinda cute!" Konoka smiled, making Setsuna sweat more bullets. "But why would we want to do that? Secchan and I are friends!" The collective cries of frustration from the yuri horde could be heard all the way from the United States as all those fans probably threatened to leave the story. Setsuna sighed in relief, although on the inside there was probably a twinge of disappointment. But since both Konoka and I (the author) are no yuri haters, the girl continued. "But then again, that might explain why Secchan always panics when I want her to kiss."

The samurai was back to sweating bullets. Oh shit, she's been discovered! No doubt Konoka would have her thrown out and sent back to the Shinmeiryuu, where she would be disgraced for all eternity! But no such thing happened, because Ichijou did a lifesaving thing—she moved the conversation in a completely different direction. "Do you want to know about Cygnus?" she asked. "There are quite a few things I can tell you about."

"Oi! Did somebody just say 'Cygnus'?" From behind a shelf of books, Miyako dashed onto the scene, a grin plastered on her face. "'Cause I'm pretty sure I heard somebody say 'Cygnus'." The fourth person missing from the Chupacabra Research Society stared at the three of them, but recognized that it was Ichijou that spoke. She sighed in disappointment. "Gah, this will go nowhere quickly."

"What I'm about to say cannot be missed," Ichijou countered seriously. That stopped Miyako in her tracks. "Cygnus... is not of this world."

"We already knew that!" Miyako complained. "God, can't you say something more useful?!"

"What you don't know," Ichijou went on as if Miyako hadn't made that outburst. "Is that he is not of the world we have been to either. The dimensional holes that we have been traveling to all go to the same planet: the one the blue hedgehog is from ("About damn time somebody got it right!" Sonic shouted somewhere.)."

"That explains a bit," Konoka answered. "But what does that have to do with Cygnus?"

"Cygnus is on this world, because this world has the closest gateway to his home world." The girl mysteriously answered. When the other girls shared puzzled looks, Ichijou continued. "The darkness he seeks is the key to that gateway."

Miyako rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "That explains his motives a bit... and with the seven chaos emeralds, he could control unparalleled darkness and get home in no time. But... why all the exaggerated antics? He could've _asked_ us to help him get home! He didn't have to invoke the whole damn Stockholm Syndrome on Rokugou and use her as a bargaining chip to keep us away!"

"Cygnus doesn't trust the 'good guys', especially since they're near non-existent where he comes from," Ichijou nonchalantly answered. "Well, guys are pretty scarce where he comes from, too..."

"Ah, Ichijou-san seems to know a lot about Cygnus!" Konoka answered.

"But just how does she?" Setsuna asked. "Between the three of us we've been hunting much more fiercely for information about Cygnus, but all we've seen is the normal Greek Mythology and the constellation."

At this, Ichijou simply bowed her head, a soft smile on her face. "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Even now you probably doubt my words. You'll simply have to see for yourself."

The timing of those words couldn't have been any better, as a dark shape glided through the halls just at the edge of their line of vision. Setsuna knew exactly who that was. "Cygnus!"

"Let's go after him, Secchan!" Konoka said.

"Ojou-sama..." Setsuna didn't think that was a wise idea, considering that there was no Negi and no Chaos Emerald amongst them. Even though Setsuna and Ichijou could hold their own, there was no telling what insidious tricks the Gary S—err Dark Swan would pull. Nevertheless, Negi needed to know. Without a word between them, Konoka pulled out an emergency cell phone and tossed it to Setsuna. Setsuna dialed Negi's number—no dice. "I can't reach him. He's likely in the other universe."

"Damn it," Konoka hissed, the curse shocking Setsuna. "We can't let him get away!"

"Ojou-sama," Setsuna was sweating yet more bullets, this time more fearful of Konoka's now forward attitude. She stopped just in time to see Ichijou already out the door. With a small grin on her face, she motioned the other three girls to follow her. Seeing little to no choice, the girls followed her out the library in pursuit of the darkness.

* * *

The serene green palm trees were the first thing Sonic saw as he made an escape back to his world. Indeed, he was back in the Green Hill Zone, a place known for peaceful, rolling hills, a large, crystal clear lake and a lot of grass. "Huh, I'm back on my old stomping grounds," he simpered. "Nice to be home—WHOA!" Only quick reflexes allowed him to dodge the net that was aimed for his head. He flipped away and landed to see that Negi and his entourage had already arrived.

Asuna, who had cast the net, was currently pointing at Sonic with said item. "We're gonna catch you this time! You can't hide from us!"

"O RLY?" Sonic taunted. "I know this place like the back of my hand! Catch ya later, chumps!" And with that, he dashed off.

"After him!" Asuna crowed, immediately sprinting behind the blue hedgehog.

Most everyone else stood stock still. Perhaps they realized the futility of chasing a creature many times faster than they were—or at least, unlike Asuna, recognized that blindly chasing him would do them no good. In any case, they huddled together to cook up a more elaborate plan.

"Everyone, we should probably split up," Becky said. "And use our abilities to the fullest."

"What if we run out of energy...?" Fuuka began.

"...and right into trouble?" Fumika finished.

"Just leave it to me!" Rei had somehow gotten her hands on a miniature grill and was already cooking. "If you get hungry, just come back here. I'll have food ready."

"In that case..." Negi prepared his staff. "All Partners... show me the power within you!" With that, all the girls felt pinpricks to their souls again. He then focused on Nodoka. "Miyazaki Nodoka... contract... activate!" From the strange orb he summoned, he pulled out a card. A bright light flashed, and Nodoka found herself plus one book and one pair of glasses.

"Cosplay card!" Kamo cheered.

"Nodoka-san. Please read Sonic's mind and find out where he is," Negi requested.

"Okay!" She opened the book, and like magic (hur hur okay not funny), a picture of Asuna chasing Sonic appeared. The drawing looked rather juvenile, like the planning stages of a Genesis Sonic game, but Nodoka seemed to understand what was going on. "'Gee, this is fun. Let's play some more!'" She read out loud. Although that on its own wasn't helpful, Nodoka did see that the picture was a good clue. "Asuna-san is chasing him by a ridge!"

"Got it!" Negi said, immediately hopping on his staff and preparing to take off.

"Everybody, split up and cover more ground. We'll be around to help out!" Kamo said just as Negi sped away.

"Got it!" The gang split up, not unlike what people would do to solve mysteries, leaving Rei to cook on her own near the entrance.

* * *

The swan-shaped darkness slithered across the school grounds, past the garden and the lake, and into Library Island. Once there, Cygnus emerged slowly, scoping his surroundings. There he saw one girl idily browsing through books. Just as he was about to simply stroll on by, somebody called out "Yue!" Cursing his luck, he hid amongst another row of books as none other than that pervy girl Haruna dashed by. Apparently she knew this girl he came across by accident, as she then said "Thank goodness I found you!"

"Oi, Haruna." A monotone voice answered back, likely belonging to this Yue. "Both you and Nodoka have been busy this weekend, I see."

"Yep... one of these days I'll show you, though," Haruna responded. "But I'm kinda worried about Nodoka."

"Really?" Cygnus could hear the slurping of the drink. "She may now have Miyamoto-sensei to err... contend with, but I think she's fine with that."

"Now that you put it that way..." By now, Cygnus had tuned out most of their conversation, instead opting to listen out for when opportunity would allow him to sneak past. However, upon thinking about it, he wondered why exactly was he sneaking around in the first place.

_Screw the rules, I'm the bloody darkness!_ Were his thoughts on the matter, and Cygnus was about to reveal himself when a shout was heard.

"Cygnus!" Goddammit. Nearly tripping on himself, he nearly missed Yue and Haruna turn towards that voice. Konoka and Setsuna sprinted in, followed by that weirdo from Peach Moon and the girl with a shining forehead. It was Setsuna who had called out the name. "Show yourself, coward!"

"Yue-chan! Please step back!" Konoka added.

"What?!" Yue nearly jumped back in surprise; her friends looked quite ready to kill something. Seeing his time to escape, the boy smoothly extracted himself from his hiding place as a swan-shaped shadow. The darkness formed into Cygnus as he skated past Yue, shouting "Not quite yet!"

"After him!" Miyako shouted. The four girls chased after the dark boy, but Haruna called out a warning, "Hey, it's dangerous chasing after that bondage hentai!"

"Yue-chan, Haruna-chan, I'm sorry, but I'll have to explain later!" Konoka shouted before turning back and chasing after the others. Yue stood there in shock; Haruna just sighed, somewhat frustrated.

When that shock died down, however, Yue turned an excited eye towards her friend. "You _are_ going to explain this, right?"

"Trust me on this one, I will," Haruna answered seriously. "But only after we chase those clowns! C'mon!" Faster than the shorter library girl could react, Haruna tugged her friend's arm and sped after the mob.

* * *

"Whoohoo!" Sonic cheered as he jogged to evade the vicious net swipes of Asuna. "This is the greatest fun I've had in ages!"

"Dammit... stop—" She swiped. "Moving—" Swipe. "So—" Swipe. "FAST!"

"Heheh," Sonic suddenly came to a rounded hill. He jumped off and landed on the ground right below the sudden incline. Landing gracefully, the blue hedgehog simply turned to Asuna and crowed, "C'mon, step it up!" Of course, Asuna kept going so she ran straight off the incline. However, once sailing off, she spotted the blue hedgehog again.

Asuna gracefully adjusted her body and prepared to swipe once more with her net. "TERIIAAA!" She bellowed as she dived in for the attack...

"Huh?" She noticed she was stuck in mid-air. Looking behind her, she saw some very elastic hook had caught onto her clothes. And it was stretched to the limit. "Uh-oh."

"Meep meep!" Sonic taunted like a car horn. "You're too slow!" He dashed away.

"EEEYYYYAAAAAGGGHHH!" Asuna sailed into the sky and disappeared with a _ding_. So long Asuna Kagurazaka! Nice knowing you...

--

"CYGNUS!" Setsuna bellowed yet again. "Your shenanigans end _here_." She took a fighting stance as Konoka, Ichijou, and Miyako gathered behind her.

"Don't count on it," Cygnus sneered. "I've still got my trump card," The darkness opened up in front of him. Rokugou was—come on now, take a guess—bound and gagged! Totally expected from the bondage hentai— "GET ON WITH IT!" Geez, you're still no fun.

"Rokugou!" Miyako shouted.

"Typical bondage hentai actions!" Setsuna accused. "I'm not even surprised!"

"I thought Negi-kun put up a barrier..." Konoka shrugged. "Guess it was useless..."

"_Anyway_," Cygnus continued, fairly irate at this point. "I dislike having to use Rokugou in this fashion, but since you hero types keep bothering me, I have no choice but to use cheap tactics... I've gotten this far, you're _not going to stop me_."

"Just what are you trying to do?" Konoka implored.

"Haven't I told you before?" Cygnus said, tossing his head up and regarding the girl with a grin. "Bring ultimate darkness to this world, so I can go home. But for now..." Cygnus picked up the girl. "Let's move to another place less innocent. I can feel the hatred for me within your hearts." He stepped backwards, disappearing in a warp hole.

"You—!" Miyako snarled, about to give chase, but Ichijou stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Ichijou-san?"

"You have to stay here."

"But... but why?!" Miyako was about to rage, and her forehead shone brightly with her indignation. "I'm about to kick his ass! I haven't even managed to get my cosplay card yet!"

"The plot demands it, of course," Ichijou answered as if it was a legit answer, and quickly disappeared. Ha. As if.

"_Besides,_" Another hand on her shoulder stopped her again. There was a horrible sense of dread as Miyako turned to see a rather vicious Haruna sneering at her. "You get to explain what's going on to me AND her," She pointed backwards. Miyako stared back to see a curious Yue, casually sipping on a juice box. Her jaw dropped.

"B-b-but?!" Miyako turned, only to see that the other three had already disappeared. "I-I thought you already—"

"Apparently not as much as I thought I did," Haruna boomed, getting close enough to collide into her chest.

Yue almost looked uninterested in her plight. "Haruna, keep it PG-13 please."

"I am _so_ screwed right now," Miyako lamented. In more ways than one, lass. In more ways than one.

* * *

The gray gaze of the sky muted the three girls as they saw themselves in a strange new world.

It was a cold place—snow fell lightly from the sky. Various bones of colossal creatures and former humans alike were strewn about. Indeed, this was a type of skeleton graveyard. "Huh... strangely doesn't feel all that cold." Setsuna uttered softly.

"Kinda beautiful in a twisted way, eh, Secchan?" Konoka asked.

"Perhaps," Setsuna answered wearily.

"Well isn't that amusing," a voice crowed. The girls turned to see Cygnus standing atop of a massive backbone. His leer was as twisted as ever. Taking on a stereotypical evil villain laugh, the dark boy continued. "Going on a date you two? Maybe you should cut the crap and get hitched some day!"

"Silence! Don't bother trying to distract us!" Setsuna snarled. She prepared her sword and took a fighting stance. "You should give back Rokugou and leave—geh?!" Setsuna's eyes bulged. Konoka followed suit, but Ichijou just raised an eyebrow. Yeah, she's still weird like that.

Cygnus, still laughing like an evil villain, failed to notice the giant shape behind him until a few moments later, where he suddenly stopped. Twitching, he slowly turned to his right and saw the bones of a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex, seeming to regard him in irritation. "Excuse me, what the eff r u doin'?" The giant undead T-Rex asked.

Cygnus jaw was unbelievably wide while he shook in fear. Growing even more irritated with the lack of answers, the T-Rex simply chomped down. Cygnus almost screamed like a girl as he high-tailed it away from the creature and into the massive dome structure, cursing like a sailor the whole way.

"You're not getting away!" Setsuna bellowed, and she charged after him. Bad news: the T-Rex was still there, and it didn't like intruders. It roared and lunged for Setsuna.

"Secchan!" Konoka cried fearfully.

It was then Ichijou seemed to press something on her skin. "Master..." She whispered as she sprinted towards Setsuna and the dinosaur. "I request a contract!"

_Strange to hear from you so soon... but I'll grant your request!_ The voice answered. Somewhere on the other end, a shadow focused its magic. _Partner... &!&(!) Ichijou. Show me the power within you! Contract... Activate!_ The shadow pulled out a card as Ichijou sprinted towards Setsuna and the dinosaur. At once her body grew completely white, shining as Ichijou was in a strong red and orange space armor. Her right hand was now a cannon, and she had immense shoulder pads. Ichijou's head disappeared behind a helmet with a green visor. _Have fun now, toodily pip!_

Wait a second... Ichijou just turned into Samus Aran?!

The new Metroid killer on the block wasted no time in aiming her gun and firing a massive missile right into the face of the dinosaur. The creature roared in pain as it staggered backwards from the massive explosion. It was then that Setsuna gained her senses once more. She jumped backwards and swept Konoka in her arms. "Ojou-sama! Let's move!"

Konoka barely had time to gasp as Setsuna carried her off into safety. As they dashed along, Konoka saw Ichijou in armor form. "You already have a contract?!" Konoka exclaimed.

"For some time," The class rep answered. Ichijou continued to pelt the dinosaur with missiles as they made their escape into the realm known as the Skeleton Dome.

* * *

"I found you, Mahooo!" Sonic heard. The blue hedgehog turned to see the strange girl standing before him, excitement dancing in her eyes. "I'm gonna catch you so I can get more meat buns!"

Just behind her, Negi flew in. He jumped off the staff and twirled it as he lowered himself to the ground. "Katagiri Himeko..." He summoned the strange orb and put his hand in, then drew out a card. "Contract... activate!" A flash of white light.

This suddenly got a hell of a lot more interesting, as Himeko got new duds. Her clothes consisted of a dark red dress and matching boots, as well as a giant, colorful, red and yellow hammer. Safe to say that it was WAY too familiar for Sonic's tastes. "OH _HELL_ NO!" Sonic panicked, and quickly dived into a random hole.

"Cosplay card!" Kamo exclaimed again, filling his role for this scene.

"Oh you can't get away from me, Sonic! I won't stop until I make you mine!" Himeko prepared her hammer and dashed towards the... multitude of holes? Uh-oh... Looks like a game of whack-a-chupa. ("I'm a HEDGEHOG!") "Looks like fun to play!"

Sonic popped his head out of one of them. Himeko brought her hammer down like Thor's judgment, but Sonic's head was too fast. He popped out of another one, and Himeko brought down the hammer much faster. Still a miss though. The game continued, with Sonic poking his head out faster and faster, and the happy-go-lucky Himeko being faster and faster with her hammer strikes.

That's when the Himeko got a brilliant idea. From the same subspace she pulled the hammer, she also dug in and pulled out... a plunger. Negi and Kamo looked on in confusion.

"A plunger?" Kamo blinked.

"Watch!" Himeko put the plunger on the hole she last saw Sonic go down and started pumping like crazy. The good news: the idea worked! The bad news: she didn't pull out Sonic; she pulled out Asuna. And Asuna was not very happy about this.

Negi and Kamo looked on in horror as Asuna sent Himeko careening into a cliff. She smacked the cliff so hard that it caved in, the extra rocks and dirt falling right on top of her. The rocks cleared, and the cliff had now spelled out "SONIC" in huge letters. "Damn, that's good!" Sonic applauded Asuna, appearing out of nowhere.

"Why thanks!" Asuna chirped. She then realized whom she was talking to and bellowed. "HEY! Sit still!" As she pulled out her net and tried to swipe Sonic.

"Yahoo, this is tight!" Sonic cheered as he dodged Asuna's attacks. The angry Asuna continued her chase of the legendary chupacabr—err hedgehog, leaving a frustrated Negi to go help Himeko out of the rubble.

* * *

High atop a strange collection of plateaus, Fuuka, Fumika, and Becky crouched, waiting for opportunity to come knocking. They had spotted Sonic upon arriving, but without a quick way to reach him, they decided to hide rather than attempt to chase him and fail.

"Miyamoto-sensei," Fuuka whispered. "What's the plan?"

"Waiting for him to get closer or for Negi to show up and activate our contracts." The child teacher answered.

"How will that work?" Fumika asked quietly.

"You sure that's gonna work?" Sonic asked. The girls whirled around in shock to see the blue hedgehog lying on his side, looking at them through amused eyes. One hand propped his head, the other was strumming on the soft grass. "I mean, even if I was right here, you still couldn't catch me."

"D-d-d-d-dah!" Becky stammered, pointing a quivering finger.

The twins reacted instinctively, lunging out for him. Sonic however, was too fast. He practically disappeared, leaving the twins to grab only air. Unfortunately their inertia carried them over a bit too far, and they found themselves over a really, really huge bed of spikes. "EEEK!" They screamed, swimming frantically back to safety.

"I forgot to warn you! You're in the valley of spikes!" Sonic said. "I hope you prepared to get out okay!" And with that, Sonic sped away, leaving the three girls to see that Sonic was in fact, telling the truth. The Valley of Spikes seemed like an uninviting place for some place called the Green Hill Zone.

* * *

Inside the hallowed halls of the Skeleton Dome, a portal of darkness swirled into existence. The Devil's Swan tore towards her like a bat out of hell, panic in his eyes. He whirled around, sliding to a stop nearby the sole grand throne at the end of the hall. "Geez! I've forgotten how insane this universe can get." Drawing from the darkness, he picked up Rokugou, who had sat silently the whole time. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Rokugou's face tinged red. "Although I'm still worried that you still have those bondage hentai fantasies..." This promptly forced Cygnus's head to introduce itself to the floor.

"That's not funny," Cygnus sulked as Rokugou restrained herself from giggling. "Anyway, it looks like it could be awhile before I can safely gather the darkness... one Chaos Emerald was surprisingly enough. But with all these lesbians on my tail..." Cygnus grit his teeth. "At this rate, I'll never find my way home."

"Cygnus-kun... I want to ask something."

"Yeah?"

"Why are Negi-sensei and the others your enemies?"

"...They're not. But because of my aura, they hate me." Cygnus held a hand, palm up. Darkness billowed out like a fire as he continued. "This aura instills a kind of belligerence to those around me—anyone close to me gets the darkness in their hearts amplified, often leading to rage and hatred. It's how I feed off of living beings. Being a massive jerk doesn't help much, but... You're immune to it for reasons I can't figure out yet," He stopped for a pause of mirthless laughter. "How fitting. It was the same thing I used to do when I was still fully human."

"Eh?" Rokugou blinked. "You mean..."

"Yeah, I'm half-human, half-demon. Or more appropriately, an amalgamation of the two," Cygnus turned to her, somewhat sad. "I don't regret a damn thing, except maybe not telling you the whole story a bit sooner." He noticed something and looked at Rokugou one last time. "So, I ought to tell you about my history sometime! That is, if the lesbians don't shout it at me!" Just as he thought, he saw Konoka, Setsuna, and Samus Ara—wait, who was that again?! "Geez, talk about uninvited guests! I can't throw parties if you don't tell me when you're coming! And who the hell are you?" He pointed to the suit-clad Ichijou.

"Long time no see, bondage hentai." Ichijou answered coolly.

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" Cygnus countered, almost by instinct. Realizing this, he came to a conclusion. "Ah, the weirdo of the group has a contract. Not bad."

"For the last time, stop running away!" Setsuna snarled, sword ready.

"Secchan..." Konoka said softly, worried about her friend's growing hatred.

"Ah, see my point, Rokugou? My aura has already driven that girl to hatred," Cygnus announced as he bounded down the steps until he was even with the three girls. "And so I shall consume the darkness in your hearts!" He clenched an outstretched hand, and at once small but intense streams of darkness began to flow from the girls' chests and into his hand.

It would've gone on, but Setsuna had enough of this Ansem parody and lunged forward. She unfortunately missed as Cygnus slid out of harm's way. "You will stop this madness."

"You don't want me to get rid of the hatred in your hearts? How stupid can you get?" Cygnus asked, setting his hand on the ground as if he were about to make a football play.

"What are you doing to me?" Setsuna asked, somewhat strained. "Why am I... so hateful?" She took another slice, but Cygnus caught the blade with his bare hands. The boy ignored the bleeding darkness and blood mix at he leered back into Setsuna's eyes. "You're using this to your advantage, aren't you?"

"Perhaps," Cygnus grinned as he jumped up and smashed into Setsuna with a fierce kick.

"SECCHAN!" Konoka screamed as Setsuna crashed and rolled along the ground.

"You don't fool me," Ichijou whispered, as she fired a powerful shot from her arm cannon towards the boy. Cygnus had his guardian swat it away, and he skated like mad towards the armor girl before spinning like a top and smashing a kick to her face as well.

"What was that again?" Cygnus taunted. "I know I'd like to take the darkness from your hearts, but why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Rokugou-san..." Setsuna, who was at Cygnus's feet, grabbed one of his legs.

"...is in danger from you! That's why!" Konoka finished, grabbing the boy by the hand.

Now one isn't quite sure how this worked. However, when Konoka and Setsuna touched Cygnus at the same time, something happened—he felt pain. Like getting sunk into a pool of lava while being driven insane kind of pain. Something about the both of them touching him at the same time sent Cygnus into a psychotic frenzy. "EEEYYYAAAUUGGHH! GET AWAY FROM ME!" He kicked off Setsuna and smashed Konoka with a mighty blow, sending her flying some feet away before she crashed painfully onto the ground.

That turned out to be a very big mistake.

"OJOU-SAMA!" Setsuna bellowed, panic strong in her voice. Worry and fear quickly changed back into anger. Hatred apparent in her eyes, she hissed, "YOU..."

Cygnus flared with darkness. "Unfortunately you're not Rokugou, so your _light_ is _poisonous_!" he hissed, still reeling from the shock. "So how about I put an end to this..." He began gathering darkness to blast them to smithereens. However, that stopped when he noticed something very bad.

Setsuna, so consumed by righteous anger and hatred, was drawing the darkness back into her heart... and then some. Uh-oh.

* * *

"Wow, looks like my luck is terrible. I get the boss fight," Kaede muttered, assuming a fighting stance against the giant, random Robot Sumo Pig.

* * *

The normally impassive Ichijou practically took an aggressive fighting stance, weary of the darkness being drawn into Setsuna. Cygnus's magic seemed to have quite the effect on the girl, and this wouldn't be the first time. Although this time around it didn't appear to be entirely Cygnus's fault.

"The hell is with you?!" Cygnus reeled back in horror. "You can't _do_ that! That's cheating! Drawing upon _my_ darkness...!"

The girl clenched her teeth, her visage growing darker, until...

Setsuna gave a near inhuman roar.

Suddenly light reappeared. Her nails became claws, her hair went from jet black to stark white. Magnificent white wings sprouted from her back. The girl rose again, glowing eerily as her wings flapped steadily. Calmly, she put her hands back on Yuunagi. "There were many things I sealed away within myself years ago. But it looks like that darkness unsealed something I am never supposed to unveil again." Her eyes opened, revealing them to be blood red. "Pay for your transgressions against Konoka ojou-sama in blood." She made a single sword swipe.

I guess I should mention that the sword swipe was strong enough to tear apart the fabric of space.

"OH _SHIT_!" Cygnus cursed in desperation as he dodged the world's strongest sword slash. The attack seemed to enjoy tearing apart several bones and walls since it missed its target. Setsuna was now faster, stronger, and pretty pissed off to boot. May God have mercy on the poor soul who earned her ire—oh wait, that's _Cygnus_, isn't it? "YOU SHUT THE HELL UP AND _HELP ME_!"

Sorry, dude. Can't do that. Besides, Setsuna had already launched yet another vicious attack. "Shinmeiryuu Secret Technique... Hiken: Hyakkaryouran!" A mad twirling slash of blades was mere centimeters from rendering Cygnus kibbles and bits. The girl immediately segued into another wave of attacks, hitting the dark boy for all of her new self was worth. Cygnus could barely hold his own as the angry girl continued to slash at him. "Sit still and die!" She bellowed.

"How about 'NO'!" Cygnus retorted fearfully, sweeping backwards and skating around to avoid the girl's chaotic attacks. He suddenly slammed the ground, and darkness shot around the floor.

The angry, angel-like Setsuna took flight, flying around a bit before swooping down and unleashing her next attack. "Hykaretsu Ouka Zan!" Thousands of powerful rose-petal-like slashes pelted down on Cygnus like pink, lethal rain. The boy skated like mad through the hailstorm of attacks before getting right under the girl.

"Gloria en obscurum..." Cygnus snarled, drawing in his magic. "Darkness... THUNDER!" A black blast of lighting shot from his arm and shocked Setsuna. While a super effective attack, it wasn't enough. Cygnus got to eat a blade blast to the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Setsuna dived at him again, but by now the boy was skating for his life, dodging the vicious blows from the vengeful samurai.

All the while, the calm Ichijou, figuring that this was no longer her fight, simply removed her helmet and drank some tea. After all, who was she to interrupt an awesome fight?

Up on the throne seat, Rokugou couldn't take it anymore. "Cygnus-kun! Please! Stop!"

"Rokugou?!" Cygnus turned to the girl. "Don't—" Turning away from Setsuna proved to be a near fatal mistake. The girl slashed him viciously, enough to send him flying towards Rokugou, and he landed on the ground, weakened.

"Cygnus-kun! Sakurazaki-san! Please!" She pleaded. "I-I'll help, just stop!"

"Curse it..." Cygnus strained to recover, standing shakily as he backed away from Setsuna. "I guess... very well then." He gave Rokugou a grim smile. "Partner: Sayaka Suzuki..." He opened up a right hand, and darkness expanded from it, producing the strange sphere-with-a-hole he would pull the card from. He tenderly put his hand in. "Show me the power within you..." The girl felt that soul pin prick once more. "Contract... activate!" He pulled out the card.

Not even before the white of the card faded away, he knew he made his first true unintentional mistake. "Oh... _shit_."

Even the enraged Setsuna noticed. "What?"

When the light died down, Rokugou's clothes had changed again. She was wearing an open white jacket with only a bra underneath, as well as matching white pants and a belt. A disturbing hole lay in the middle of her abdomen. The right half of her face seemed to have the remains of a gruesome mask, perhaps that of a creature with a large jaw. Her left half had the roman numerals "VI" branded on them. And last but not least, six shadows were arranged evenly around her feet, as well as a shark fin on the small of her back.

That was her armor card.

At once Setsuna noticed something very wrong—Rokugou's entire demeanor had changed. And that was only from a mere smile.

OUR THE UH-OH.

"So... _hungry_," 'Rokujow' sneered. With movement so fast as to be undetected, the now broken girl landed a lucky shot and smashed Setsuna in the gut with one powerful kick. "Tch, half-demons. Not even a filling meal..." As Setsuna crumpled to the ground in pain, Rokugou went back to the now fearful Cygnus. "Well, well, bondage hentai," The girl picked him up, rubbing a finger seductively under his chin. "What was it about taking the darkness from people's hearts? Ah, that's how you want to get home. How about I show you how it's done." With a fluid movement, tendrils of mixed light and darkness wrapped themselves around Cygnus and the girl pulled on a 'string' of it.

"Just a little payback, bondage hentai," Rokujow walked, towing the boy behind her. Cygnus didn't really care. By now he was totally love-struck by this new Rokugou. The fool left a small trail of drool as he and his now master left the scene. Ichijou was ignored, of course.

Setsuna strained to recover. The surprise attack was a rather nasty glancing blow—she wasn't exactly expecting this level of power from Rokugou of all people. But Konoka... Konoka Konoe, the girl she was supposed to guard, the girl she wanted to protect, and even love so much... She failed on so many accounts. Thanks to that dark boy, her true, ugly form had been unveiled. And she even failed to protect Konoka-ojou-sama from a surprise attack... But how come today, of all days...

"Secchan. Hey, Secchan," Konoka's gentle voice was heard. Setsuna turned to see the girl beside her.

"Ojou-sama... I'm... sorry. I failed again..." Setsuna said, still curled from the pain.

"..." Konoka turned away. "It's been years since I last saw you like that."

"You... remember?"

"Clearly. You still look so beautiful with wings. When I learned that... that you weren't entirely human, I still didn't care. I wanted you as my friend."

"Ojou-sama," Setsuna ignored the pain as tears of gratitude began to stream down her face.

"Secchan... let's not hold back anymore." Konoka whispered. She turned her head to Ichijou, who was calmly sipping tea. "Ichijou-san, if you would, please!"

The strange girl answered by randomly pulling out the plot device, and using it, she summoned... a pactio circle under the two girls. Wait what? Setsuna seemed to voice the same confusion. "Ojou-sama? How—" Konoka lifted the girl's head.

Lip lock. The yuri horde goes wild!

"Awah?!" Setsuna bounced back in sudden shock, her face red, but the pain from her gut kick didn't like being forgotten, so it returned with a vengeance. Setsuna clenched her teeth in sudden pain. But that didn't stop the pactio. Negi's cards within her shattered, replaced by Konoka's.

"Animadverto lucis..." Konoka chanted. "**O Spirits, hear my call. Return our bodies to the light, which gave us warmth, and heal all pain.** Sataaaa andagi!" Konoka giggled at her own fire command as a faint glow appeared about the girls, healing them of all their wounds.

"Ojou-sama! Y-you're..." Setsuna began.

"Yes... you forget why I need protection in the first place," Konoka playfully stuck out her tongue at the samurai. "I've been a mage for about as long as Negi-kun... granted, my parents didn't want me to know about it—they wanted me to live a carefree life. But I've known for a while. I just perfected that spell. I guess I need Negi-kun to teach me more, though."

The girls suddenly stopped as they saw Ichijou walk towards them. "Ichijou-san?" Konoka asked.

The strange girl offered a hand. "We should go."

"That's right... we still have to stop Rokugou-san and Cygnus-san," Setsuna said. Grabbing Konoka's hand, she took Ichijou's. The standing girl pulled the other two up on their feet. "Let's go, ojou-sama."

"Just between you and me... I prefer Kono-chan," Konoka gave a cute pout, in which Setsuna was completely powerless to. By now the yuri horde was probably ballistic with glee.

"I... I still can't—"

"Secchan..."

"One day soon, ojou-sama!"

"Better hurry, our scene's just about over," Ichijou calmly reminded them. And it was, considering that they were already on their way out of the throne room and back into their world.

* * *

The scenery here was nice, Rei had to admit. From atop of the hill she could laugh at the poor fools as they attempted to catch the blue hedgehog, survive the Valley of Spikes, take out a random Robot Sumo Pig and otherwise do idiotic things. However, one person was simply idling nearby. Rei was surprised to see Akira simply lounge about and watch the setting sun (and her cooking). Deciding to see why she didn't bother with the idiocy of the rest of the gang, Rei popped a question. "So what's up with you? Why aren't you chasing him around?"

"I can't say that this is my kind of thing," Akira shrugged, an apologetic smile on her face. "Besides, there's a beautiful lake. It'd be nice if I could take a dip, but they'd might seriously need me if trouble started."

"That strangely makes sense," Rei said, a slight chuckle escaping her lips because of that fact. She turned back to her cooking—only to see Sonic taking a sample of it. "HUH?!"

"Whoa! This may be no chili dog, but this is good!" Sonic said, enjoying the delectable food.

"HEY! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Rei bellowed. From her pocket, she produced a Chaos Emerald, no doubt probably pulled from the same depths as the plot device. "Nobody touches my food before I let them..." holding said emerald, Rei allowed the power to unlock her contract. The normal bright flash of light led to Rei pulling her cosplay card—her Eggman suit. "...no one." She finished.

"Eggman?!" Sonic reeled back. He then pointed an angry finger. "Don't even count on your schemes working this time!"

"This is my cosplay card, you idiot!" Rei retorted. "And why are YOU being serious business, anyway!?"

Akira only looked on in amusement.

"Watch this," Rei produced a strange remote, something more resembling a gray stick. She pressed the red button at the top crowing, "Behold! My latest and greatest creation!"

There was silence.

"Huh?" Rei blinked. "There was supposed to be an awesome machine that would make stuff explode."

Well, something did explode. That something being the cliff Akira was sitting on. "Awah?!" Akira lost balance, and not even her quick wits or strength was enough to recover and get to safety on time.

Rei, panicking at her mistake, raced to try and catch Akira before she fell off to her doom.

Sonic, however, was faster. "AKIRA!" Sonic bellowed, already trying to catch the girl. He reached out a hand, nearly clawing at the air as if it were an obstacle. Akira too, tried to reach his hand, as it was the only thing they could do.

They caught each other just in time.

Sonic remembered jumping to save her, and wondered why they were dangling as opposed to sailing down to the ground below. Feeling the strange sensation of being pulled up, Sonic lent his strength as well and helped Akira back up. Much to his surprise, he found Rei dragging him back to safety. "Huh." Sonic said.

"Well, it was the only way I could help Akira," Rei simply stated. There was no room for argument.

Sonic smirked. He dashed away, landing on a palm tree. Illuminated by the sunset, he then faced the two girls. "It was fun, hanging out with you guys. Maybe someday we can play again! After all, we may live in separate dimensions, but we all share one sky, one destiny!" He added a thumbs-up with those last words.

Akira smiled.

Rei growled, "Why are you so damn cheesy?"

"Not _my_ fault you're lactose intolerant," Sonic quipped. He turned to see the tired faces of the others returning. "Looks like my show is over! I'll catch you guys later!" And leaving a slight blur of darkness, the blue hedgehog sped away into the sunset.

There was a moment of silence between the two girls as the others approached.

"It's been fun, hasn't it?" Leave it to Akira to break the ice.

"You could say that," Rei answered, just before the first angry stomach growled, in demand of its sacrifice.

* * *

Negi and the others sighed in defeat. As they all marched back into their world through the portal, they wearily took a look around to make sure no one who wasn't magic affiliated was looking. "Geez!" Asuna griped. "And we were _so close_!" Yeah. Right.

"I guess it can't be helped," Becky sighed, her voice back to her bored tone.

"Don't worry everyone!" Negi Springfield in his normal cheer attempted to cheer up the class to his level. "Next time we see him, we certainly won't miss!"

"I trust Negi-sensei's words!" Nodoka added cheerily.

"Heheh, that was surprisingly fun," Rei smirked, despite her harsh defeat earlier. "I'm gonna rematch that bastard though..."

"You guys..." Akira began, catching everyone's attention.

"Akira-san?" Negi asked, wanting her to continue.

"I think... Sonic is a shadow. The last one," she added thoughtfully.

For the most part, this was met with gasps of surprise. However, Rei met that with a raised eyebrow. "O RLY? What gave you _that_ idea?"

"That could mean that the chupacabra is the master of shadows!" Asuna had already spun a conspiracy theory. Joy. "And that Cygnus brat is just a puppet!"

"Don't quit your day job," Rei muttered.

"How?" Becky rubbed her head in confusion. "If he's a shadow, then that means—huh?" Becky's attention caught something else, and her thought was never finished, lost in the depths of nothingness, never to return! Or maybe—"GET ON WITH IT!" Spoil sports.

"Becky-san?" Negi looked at the confused girl for a moment. He then slowly followed her eyes (and everyone else's) until he saw somebody. "Rokugou-san?"

Some distance away from them, in the middle of the gymnasium where they appeared, Rokugou was standing there. Cygnus was on the floor, bound and what looked like both completely beaten and love-struck, Her right foot was on his rump.

"Rokugou?" Becky ventured quietly.

Asuna wasn't so tactful. "About damn time somebody toasted Cygnus! You should've been there! That chupacabra kept us going around in circles, through loop-de-loops, through those nasty spikes—"

All it took was three words to stop everyone in cold, dead silence. "Cut the shit."

To say that this had a shocking effect would be an understatement. Everyone but the girl in question had their faces etched in complete disbelief. Since when was Rokugou like this...? But then they noticed her appearance. White jacket and pants. The disconcerting hole in her abdomen. The half broken mask on her right side. And most of all, that dark sneer. Who _was_ this in front of them? "That so-called blue hedgehog is the least of your worries. Within my heart I hold a massive appetite... For all of you to go down, that is."

Her eyes half shut, she chuckled. "In honor of the bondage hentai at my feet and the hunger that consumes my _soul_..." Her eyes flared open, with a stare as cold as ice and a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat proud, "...I'll make you hate _me_ instead."

Negi's ever-growing pack of partners now face a disconcerting new foe—Rokugou herself. Why exactly is she this way, and what is she about to do? Our fearful heroes wonder just what they're up against as this episode ends. Tune in next time!

&!?

"Hey, this is Shichimi, mya!"

"And this is Motsu."

"And I'm Mesousa..."

"We've been forgotten in these past episodes, but it's just our luck that we get the crisis episode, mya!"

"Next time! 'May Rokugou Have Mercy On Your Souls...'"

"...by Mesousa."

"It's our turn to rise as the heroes for the next episode! In a good way."

"But I'm too weak to be a hero..."

"Don't count on it, mya."

* * *

(Wow... in excess of 10k words. It was already pushing it on the old version. Finally updated! Massive apologies and all that. Stay put, the bigger edits kick in soon. Thanks to Seraph for proofreading.)


	9. May Rokugou Have Mercy by Mesousa

**Scheme!? Final Mix  
**

**Episode 8: "May Rokugou Have Mercy on Your Soul..." By Mesousa**

"In honor of the bondage hentai at my feet..." Rokugou, transformed by the power of the armor pactio, leered coldly at her friends. "I'll make you hate _me_ instead."

The rest of the class could only stare in uncomfortable silence, not sure how to treat this situation. Why was Rokugou like this... surely this was the work of dark forces—wait, that is a _terrible_ joke. "Rokugou-san," Negi said, always the diplomat. He figured why she was angry. "If you're upset about being left behind, then I apologize... I was only looking out for your safety—HARGGH!" To everyone's horror, Rokugou's hand shot forward, grabbing Negi by the neck. From a distance, one would probably surmise that a samurai was about to behead a chicken.

She hoisted him up with ease, leering at the boy with cold eyes. "That's not my problem here!"

"Negi-sensei!" Many of the girls reeled back in horror, not certain how to take this situation.

"_ROKUGOU_!" Rei barked. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Oh?" 'Rokujow' turned her attention to Rei. "You of all people should know the rush of feeling evil... am I right?" The girl sneered as Rei stepped back in complete shock. "Don't be tempted to call the kettle black." She dropped Negi onto the ground, who gasped and inhaled deeply to get back lost air.

"Rokugou... san..." Negi strained to recover. "What did... Cygnus-san... do to you?"

"He is _guilty_ of _nothing_," The girl answered simply. "But he _did_ awaken something... I wonder if this current form of mine has unleashed something." She took a rather morose face. "But I'm so hungry... So powerful and yet so _hungry_...!" The serious look got replaced by a jaded grin. "I guess I'll do bondage hentai a favor and eat all of you."

Everyone's eyes shrunk at this evil shocking revelation (tm). It looked like Rokugou was looking for a fight... and a fight in the middle of school was about the last thing anyone wanted. But...

"Rokugou..." Asuna started. "If we beat you, will you turn back to your normal self?"

"No guarantees," the girl crouched, as if ready to pounce on the team. "Besides I'm bored... let's make things interesting. Worth a shot though, isn't it? "

"I think so," Kaede stepped up to the challenge.

"We'll help too!" The twins chirped.

"Get Negi-bouzu out of here!" Kaede shouted to the rest of the group. "We'll hold Rokugou off! If she fights anyone else here it could be disastrous!"

Faced with little choice, Negi focused his powers. "All partners... show me the power within you! Contract... activate!" He opened up the magic sphere and grabbed the cards locked inside. He pulled out a whooping nine cards.

Kamo gasped at his luck. "Six armor cards, three cosplay cards... Not bad at all, big bro!"

"Negi-sensei! With me!" Akira scooped him off and ran past Rokugou and into the halls. "We need to find the others!"

"Wait for me!" Asuna called after her, but she was gone in a flash.

"I'll help find the others too!" Nodoka said, and she sped away behind Negi and Akira.

Asuna looked at the remaining force, somewhat annoyed. "Miyamoto brat, you're coming with me!" She scooped up Becky and ran off in pursuit of Akira.

"Hey! Put me down!" Becky screeched, but to no avail. "ROKUGOU!" Her call was unheard, or rather ignored, as Rokugou was too busy carefully watching who would stay behind. The girl mewled as Asuna carted her away, with Rei following in hot pursuit.

That left Himeko. "Rokugou-san..." She gripped her hammer tightly. "Maybe if I bash your brains in, you'll turn back to normal!" She announced in a singsong voice as she leaped up for an attack. Rokugou would have none of this shit; she simply curled herself a bit before shooting straight up, opening her jaws wide. She bit down with a mighty -CHOMP- and Himeko was swallowed whole. Wow, epic fail right out of the gate. Maybe she would have gotten better luck with an armor card...

Rokugou spit her out, dismayed. Himeko crashed into a wall somewhere, unconscious. "Eugh, don't bother! Too sweet!" Rokugou said after a short while, turning to Kaede and the twins' shocked faces. "I hope you guys aren't as weak as that fool," her demonic smirk returned, as the three now ninjas took fighting stances, their faces as serious as possible. Well considering that the twins were scared beyond belief, they had no choice but to look serious or else their fear would be bloody obvious. Rokugou took a fighting stance herself. "Don't hold back now, you might not live otherwise."

The twins struck first with a volley of kunai. Rokugou dodged those easily; she even managed to kick Cygnus safely into a corner while she was at it. She countered by sliding her foot down and launching a vicious kick at Fumika, who barely dodged.

Kaede dashed forward, launching a multitude of rapid-fire punches. She knew that the twins, despite their armor, were nowhere near her level of power. If she could keep Rokugou focused on her... The good news was that line of thought was working so far. Although Rokugou blocked the blows, Kaede did well enough in keeping the pressure on the girl.

"Not bad!" Rokugou said, somewhat impressed. "Every single drop of all you got!" She finally returned the favor. Bad news: Kaede couldn't guard against an apparently twilight-charged punch. The girl sailed into the wall from the erratic mixture of darkness and light, crashing and nearly causing the wall to crack.

"Kaede-nee!" Fuuka squealed in horror. In a rage, she whirled back to Rokugou. "How dare you!" she squeaked, throwing a barrage of kunai at the girl. Rokugou merely squatted, dodging the hail of wicked ninja knives as she took to the air. She dive-bombed Fuuka with a kick, and sent her sailing into her twin sister, both who crashed into a defeated heap.

"Meh..." Rokugou muttered. "But... what's this?"

Suddenly she could see them. Swirls of darkness wafting from the defeated girls.

Rokugou opened her mouth wide and devoured it. It tasted so good... "Bondage hentai eats this way, doesn't he?" She sounded almost like her normal self. "Well... maybe I could do him a favor, and gather darkness for him..." Rokugou stepped outside of the gym, leaving the fallen ninjas behind. And thus, the girl begins cutting a dark swath between her own friends— "A little less dramatic, please." HOW ABOUT 'NO'!

* * *

"Akira-san, have we seen the others today?" Negi said as he ran alongside the girl. "I don't know where they went, but if Rokugou-san finds them first..."

"I have no clue," Akira answered. "But they might be back at the room..."

"I think Kurumi-san and Makie-san might still be there," Negi burst into the main school building, running as fast as he could. "Meanwhile, where has Konoka-san gone?" He whipped out a cell phone and rapidly finger-punched numbers. He brought the phone up to his ear—busy signal. "Dang it. Where did she go?"

* * *

"Ichijou-san, are you sure this is the right way?" Setsuna asked as they continued through the barren skull-filled land.

"..." Ichijou stared for a moment, her face blank. As if she suddenly remembered something, she pulled out the plot device. "Aiyah. It's on the fritz."

Setsuna introduced her face to her palm.

"Looks like we won't be able to challenge Rokugou-san again," Konoka sighed dejectedly. "Oh, I hope Negi-kun's doing okay..."

* * *

Kurumi sighed dejectedly. "Awww... they all left us behind again!" The sun was setting, giving off a beautiful yet creepy twilight feel into the Chupa Research Team room. "But geez, it's been silent for a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah... but where did everybody go?" Makie blinked. "There's three Chaos Emeralds here, they only took one."

"Is that so?" The girls turned to see... some sort of shark fin slowly making its way towards them. The of course, panicked, squealed, and jumped on the table. However, when Rokugou emerged from the earth, their fears were assuaged... slightly. "_Relax_, I only want to eat you... for a little bit."

"Rokugou?" Kurumi blinked.

"Gosh Rokugou-san, you look kinda cool," Makie said, likely a horrible mistranslation but oh well.

"Maybe... so why don't you sit still while I eat you?" Rokugou sneered, snarling and lunging up with a vicious bite. The girls squealed in horror as Rokugou took out half the table in an attempt to eat them. As they scrambled about in abject horror, they almost foolishly forgot the Chaos Emeralds nearby.

"Wait...!" Kurumi shouted. "The Chaos Emeralds! If only..." She began to scramble back towards them, in an attempt to rescue them... and herself.

But YOU'RE TOO LATE, Kurumi! You fell for Rokugou's trap card! It was all the two girls knew before Rokugou emerged from the earth again, snapping both in one huge bite.

There was a moment of silence as Rokugou siphoned out the darkness, before spitting them out. Surprisingly enough, they were still conscious, huddling together as if they had both seen a truly horrifying movie rather than barely surviving being eaten alive.

"Not bad, but..." She sighed in annoyance, only to turn around and see a horrified Negi and Akira standing at the doorway. She grinned again. "Somebody tastier is here..." She lunged for an attack.

"Rokugou-san! No—!" Negi started.

"SCREW THAT THOUGHT!" Rokugou heard to her left. She moved just milliseconds before a mighty sword crashed down where she was. Asuna landed in front of Negi before wrenching out her sword. "How about you drop out of that armor form, and stop eating people?!" She assumed a fighting stance.

"Rokugou..." Becky stepped in, squeezing past Negi and Akira and standing beside Asuna. "I want you to get back to normal!" She looked up at Rokugou with sad puppy-dog eyes. "I don't like you like this!"

"Huh," Rokugou regarded both of her new foes. Asuna would be amusing, but even with evil clouding her mind, she did not feel like attacking Becky. "In that case I'll see if Asuna's idea is worthy!" She bellowed, dashing towards Asuna. The sword wielder swung her mighty blade to counter Rokugou's fierce, twilight-charged attack.

"Negi... get out of here!" Becky turned and shouted at him. "The others are still at Library Island! They don't know what's going on!"

"But Becky-san—!" Negi started.

"Go, dammit!" She started throwing various things at him. This included a chair, some random piggybanks, a chainsaw, a pokeball, and an axe. The chainsaw freaked him out, so he had no choice but to run, Akira following him.

The sullen Becky, satisfied that he was gone, turned back to the fight Asuna was having with Rokugou. It was now or never...

* * *

"WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN!" The T.V blared.

"What exactly are you watching again?" Ku Fei asked Satsuki, tilting her head in confusion.

Satsuki stared dreamily at the T.V, admiring the man on it as he fervently whipped up an unknown dish. "Cooking with Higashizawa. He's such a dreamy cook. Using such rare and powerful recipes, he's known for dishes like 'Sakuraba Sushi' and 'The Dessert Ends With You'."

"TIME FOR A TASTE TEST!"

"Guy sounds crazy," Ku Fei said, munching happily on crab meat buns. "But it's nice to see you fired up." There was a moment of power. "By the way, where's Rei and Chao? Feels awfully silent without them..."

"I'LL POUND YOU!"

"He can pound me anytime..." Satsuki answered dreamily.

"Errmmm..." On second thought, Ku Fei suddenly found it wise to be very, very quiet.

* * *

Drat, that non-sequitur moment totally interrupted the awesome fight scene! Now Rokugou stood over a defeated Asuna. "Not bad, not bad at all, but still inferior. The darkness in your heart was great, though." She laughed as Asuna groaned from the pain. A can of whoopass does not a good lunch make. She turned to Becky, who was of course, shivering under a curtain. "You're too cute to fight, so stay there while I defeat all those other losers!" This grin of hers softened just enough for Becky to stop shaking, but she still didn't dare move. "Smell ya later!" And with that, she disappeared in a twilit flash.

* * *

"Argh, I still can't contact Konoka-san!" Negi grit his teeth as he and Akira continued running towards Library Island. "Becky-san said they all went to Library Island, but why can't I reach her?"

"It's likely they're in the other world, aren't they?" Akira answered. Their running led them towards the bridge connecting the school to the isolated island. However, as they crossed it, Negi felt a familiar presence yet again.

"Rokugou-san... she's still too strong," Negi slid to a stop and prepared his staff while Akira followed suit. "We need more time..."

Negi saw a shark fin pierce through the earth like water before Rokugou emerged, that twisted grin of hers ever present. "So many fools, and yet I'm still so hungry," The grim-jawed lass said. "Geez, I ate the ninjas, I ate the sword girl, I ate Himeko, Becky is no fun to fight (though making her question if she likes girls was worth a laugh), the failures were tasty, and I don't even know if that half-demon has enough spine to challenge me again..."

"Half... demon...?"Negi blinked.

"Anyway, you feel like being dinner yet, or will you be an entertaining fight?" Rokugou asked, taking a somewhat lazy stance and nasty grin.

"If you want somebody interesting to fight, why don't you take me," Rei bellowed from some distance behind Negi. "I'm pretty sure I got something worth picking on," Rokugou looked past Negi to see Rei in that Eggman suit once again, an equally nasty grin on her face. She was standing atop of a huge machine, consisting of a metallic platform and four huge, spider-like legs. The technical masterpiece stomped towards Rokugou as Rei switched her attention to Negi. "Run along, I've got things here."

Negi and Akira stared for a moment, quite shocked that Rei was willing to stall for them. However, he shook this off. "Thank you, Rei-san," he whispered, and taking Akira's hand, he sprinted past Rokugou and into the library.

An unamused Rokugou walked towards Rei. "Oh, what a shame. I thought you were smarter than this, Rei. Bigger does not always equal better. Didn't that fat man teach you anything?"

"Unlike the fat man, I'm actually smart," Rei retorted, keeping her snide grin. "I've seen a lot of things coming, and yet still have a lot of things I'm up to. For instance, I already know why you're like this." Rei had the machine rear up and use one of its legs to come crashing down on Rokugou. But the agile girl merely hand-sprung out of harm's way. The machine continued to stomp towards Rokugou.

"O RLY?"

"Yah, YA RLY," Rei answered. The machine jumped into the air, sailing over the transformed girl and landing behind her. It swept a leg to smash her again but it missed. "Some cards pull a personality change to maximize their usage and powers. For instance, you couldn't control all that power as your nice self, so Cygnus turned you into a bitch."

"Tch, and you aren't one already?" Rokugou retorted. "Must be, trying to kill me with this shitty machine!" Rokugou gathered twilight in her right hand and smashed a leg with it. The machine lost control and slumped down, causing Rei to nearly lose her balance. Rei snarled and tried to attack with the free legs, but the faster Rokugou decimated them all. Leaving the broken machine in its defeated state, the blue-haired girl picked up Rei by the scruff of her shirt and tossed her onto the bridge.

Rei clenched her teeth as she slid to a stop, no doubt contracting some nasty bruises on her butt from getting it rubbed like sandpaper. She looked up as Rokugou walked closer. "As I thought. You're just some chump without those Eggman machines. So... do you hate me yet?"

"O RLY?" Rei's nasty grin returned. "But that's not even half of the reason you're trying to drown yourself in evil. As a friend, I know what makes you tick."

"Don't try me," Rokugou nearly snarled.

"Even if you'd never harm a fly, there's a darkness in your heart that makes dark boy pretty appealing!" Rei laughed. "It even works both ways! You decided to take the direct approach so dark boy wouldn't have to dirty his hands. You can't be truly evil, because none of us are dead yet! "

"Dammit, don't try me!" Rokugou opened her jaws wide and lunged.

Rei whipped out a random switch and pressed a button. "GET A LOAD OF THIS." For no reason at all, two large laser guns popped out from under the water and fired at Rokugou. The targeted girl clenched her teeth as she had no choice but to flip over the attack and further enter the bridge. Rei smirked at this, further challenging her with another "GET A LOAD OF THIS!" and another two lasers popping out from the lake and shooting at her. "GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS!" Rei cackled madly as Rokugou was now dodging all kinds of lasers. "GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAD OF THIS! GET A LOAF OF THIS!"

The loaf of bread randomly smacking her was the last straw. Or the last loaf of bread. WHATEVER. Rokugou's patience thinned out to nothing as she raged towards Rei, charging twilight all the way. "_YOU_ GET A LOAD OF _THIS_ YOU CRAZY BITCH!" And with one punch she sent Rei skyrocketing into the air.

"Auuugghh!" Rei screamed. "It looks like I'm BLASTING OFF AGAAIIINNN!" And she disappeared into the sky with a tiny -ding-.

"Hmph," Rokugou snarled. She refused to admit it, but Rei was shockingly close, if not entirely correct. "I'm already this deep... for bondage hentai, I'll finish this..." She stepped inside Library Island, continuing to search for Negi (or some strong foe).

* * *

"...so that's how it is," Miyako finished explaining what she knew about magic and Negi's goals to Yue and Haruna.

"Thanks for the re-briefing," Haruna smiled.

Yue was smarter than this. "Some things makes sense, and yet..." She took a sip of her juice box. It was certainly refreshing, although most other people would find her drinks downright nasty if not poisonous. No offense to Yue herself! "This is quite unbelievable."

"HUH?" Miyako didn't take this too well. "You live with a talking frog thing and a fuzzball that thinks its a cat (she pointed to Shichimi and Motsu), a chupacabra is on the loose, random references to the internet show up on the walls for no reason (she pointed to a random sign that said 'A CAT IS FINE TOO'), and you still don't believe everything I said?!"

Haruna took a hearty laugh. "That's Yue for ya. Always the most practical."

"Not that," Yue answered simply. "I'd think I'd rather see it in action... you know, magic."

"Magic, huh..." Miyako thought again, her forehead gleaming.

"We don't have any on our own, but I can show you something when we get back to the club room..." Haruna said. However, before she could say something else, another something caught her attention. "Eh?"

This caught Miyako's attention. "Huh?"

"What's that rabbit?" Yue pointed.

After being shafted out of appearances so many times, Mesousa decided to finally make his appearance! The unlucky rabbit, however was lost. The good news was that he found Miyako! The bad news was that he was still pretty much lost. Oh, and the other two mascot characters were a threat to his screen time, or whatever you call parts of a fanfic. But he wasn't sure what to make of this strange girl pointing at him. "I'm... lost. And I don't have my starring role."

"Is that it?" Yue was not interested.

"Ah! The failure rabbit," Motsu peeked out from behind some books. The local school library may be easy to navigate, but for a puny, emo rabbit, that was not always the case. "You are wondering where your starring role went, yes?"

"Maybe..." The soft rabbit winced. "Or maybe I'm just lost."

"I know where your starring role went," Motsu grinned deviously, something very wrong and evil ticking in the frog's mind. Then again, this is Motsu we're talking about. If it was wrong and evil in actuality he'd be frog paste by now. "It... was devoured."

"D-d-devoured?!" The already fearful rabbit was shaking uncontrollably at those words. "B-b-by who?"

"Mephiles... the DARK!" Motsu boldly announced, with terrible lightning flashing at his announcement. A stray bolt of lightning decided that it had enough of this shit and said "I'd hit it... with the fist of an angry god!" and so Motsu was fried to a crisp by a stray bolt of lightning. "...stupid lightning effects!" Motsu croaked (pun obviously intended, just so I can laugh at your groans!), smoke puffing out of his burnt mouth.

"More like Mephiles the Dork, am I rite?" Shichimi bounced up and down to that mysterious rhythm again. "That's what this Cygnus person feels like, mya!"

"Speaking of that..." Haruna started. "Something kinda concerns me."

"What's that?" Yue asked.

"The same reason I even bothered for a recheck on what's going on," She whirled to Miyako again. "What the hell is up with Konoka trying to chase that bondage hentai?!"

"Why are you bloody asking _me_?!" Miyako shouted back defensively. "I don't know what kind of hidden grudge Konoka-san's got!"

"Cygnus..." Yue murmured. "I'm not sure why that name reminds me of this, but... have you heard of the tale of a man named Orpheus?"

"Orpheus?" Miyako blinked.

"Yes... somebody wrote some really detailed fiction about that man. It's so detailed, and the fact that you're talking about magic, I'm wondering if it might be real... as a matter of fact, I've seen a few of his books around Library Island..." Yue said. By now, everyone's attention was on her. "The books are pretty interesting. It was said he did many experiments involving travel through the universe. It was said that he also discovered and bridged relations with a civilization on the moon."

"Civilization... on the moon?" Miyako blinked in disbelief. "Hey wait a second! That means people could be living on the moon?"

"Eh... I think it's quite possible," Yue rubbed her head. Geez, who knew that fiction could possibly be real... but surely it couldn't be...

"One shouldn't dabble in the magic world so freely. They could get in big trouble... in a good way," Motsu admonished.

"SILENCE, FROG I COULD'VE SWORN I'VE SEEN BEFORE!" The irate redhead kicked him away like a perfect soccer pass. One would probably laugh in glee at the ownage. She turned back to Yue, absentmindedly scooping up Mesousa in the process. "So what's this about a scientist? And why does the name Cygnus remind you of him?"

"Ah..." Yue went back into her tale. "From what I remember in those books, aside from his strides in interdimensional travel, he focused more private research on two things—the concepts of 'darkness' and 'hatred'. Many people felt that darkness was born of negative emotions, and those that wielded it were fated to evil and hatred. Orpheus sought to prove that theory wrong. He conducted many macabre experiments that involved playing a person's hatred like a puppet, and tried to extract 'darkness' from it. I noticed his writings suddenly got more twisted as this progressed."

"Eh?" Miyako twisted her face a bit. "How creepy..."

"Oh ho? I remember that book!" Haruna added. Dropping her voice slightly and adding a conspiratorial grin, she continued Yue's tale. "There was supposedly an incident that drove him over the edge during a trip to the moon. Rumors of what happened to him afterwards vary from a homicidal rage to being snatched by Lord Mephiles. Morbid ending to that tale, but it really _was_ a good read."

"So if he was driven mad on the moon..." Motsu thought out loud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Then that means he was literally a lunatic, correct?"

"If you put it that way—" Yue began, practically feeling a sweat drop form on her head.

"THE MOTSU WAS RITE AGAIN!" The crazy frog declared.

Mesousa, of all people, was the first to see the logical fallacy. "B-b-b-but in order to be 'RITE AGAIN' that would imply there was a first time!" He sobbed.

The frog sank. "Don't ruin my references."

"Would anyone even _get_ your references?" Yue and Miyako said in monotone together.

Miyako switched the subject back. "That Orpheus guy definitely reminds me of Cygnus..."

"Ah, _now_ I remember why the name Cygnus reminded me of that tale of Orpheus..." Yue banged a fist into her open palm. "In Greek Mythology, a man by that same name was put amongst the constellations as 'Cygnus' after his death."

"Touching story," Haruna added, pretending to weep for added effect. Yue wisely ignored this.

"Ah!" A startling discovery mentally assaulted Miyako's brain._ No wonder I couldn't find anything on Cygnus... Maybe he went by another name! Hehehehe... nothing escapes history!_ "Hey Yue, where are those books by Orpheus you talked about?"

"Oh those?" Yue asked. "Ah, I think they're—" Bad luck, she got interrupted again.

This time, it was Nodoka. "Miyako-san! Haruna! Thank goodness you're here! Rokugou-san has—" she looked besides the girl with the glasses to see her dear friend Yue. Yeah, the one who's not supposed to know about magic. And here she was in armor form, about to talk about a lot of things she shouldn't. "Y-Yue?!"

"Why Nodoka!" Yue's eye held a predatory gleam, a rare but dangerous sign. "You have a lot of explaining to do..."

"More like she's got a lot of getting her ass kicked to do, am I right?" The three turned to see Rokugou standing there, much to their surprise and horror. "My, I was about to chase Negi-sensei again, but seeing as your power was closer, I decided to find you instead. So," she assumed a fighting stance, the many shadows around her growing more menacing. "who's lunch _first_?"

The girls were sweating bullets, while Yue looked between them, completely bewildered. "Huh? What's going on? Why's Suzuki-san like that?"

Haruna muttered, "Deep trouble and bondage hentai, that's what's going on." This answer only confused Yue further.

"Miyako-san!" Nodoka tossed her the magic stone of transforming without Negi, a Chaos Emerald. How she got it, not even she knows—she suddenly knew she had it (Thank you, plot device!). "Yue, step back!"

"I don't get one?!" Haruna complained.

"I'm very sorry," Nodoka bowed apologetically. Haruna sighed, stepping back with Yue.

"Watch and learn!" Miyako bellowed, holding out the red gem. She focused, drawing out the pactio through her body as she let the power seep through her. A white light flashed, and when all was said and done, she had on what looked like a frightening red mix between a jester suit and pajamas. A freaky white mask with a long nose was attached to the upper right side of her head. But most of all, her forehead shone even more ominously than it had before. "Whoa... really weird cosplay."

"Nice... want to try dying in it once?" Rokugou taunted, shoving her hand forward.

By now, Nodoka's powers were at full force, and she was already reading Rokugou's mind for the attack. "Miyako-san, watch out! She's going to try and shove a blast of light and darkness at you!"

Just as the girl predicted, a rush of twilight tendrils shot out towards Miyako. To her own surprise, Miyako flew and weaved out of harm's way. "Nice, I can fly in this one!" She stood a bit. Focusing her energy on that shining forehead of hers, she smirked. "Try this!" A nightmarish laser shot towards Rokugou.

Good news: it was an easy dodge.

Bad news: Miyako summoned mirrors, and the laser bounced off of it and back in her path.

Rokugou grinned savagely, preparing for a counterattack. This could finally be an interesting battle...

* * *

A cell phone chirped, much like a mechanical bird.

A thoroughly defeated Rei, lying on the ground, answered it. "Hello? Yeah... completely got my ass kicked. Rokugou's unstoppable... huh? Yeah..." Rei imagined the pain all the other defeated girls must be feeling. Kaede, the twins, Asuna, Becky was probably crying somewhere, likely even Kurumi and Makie were tasting defeat somewhere. "He hasn't shown up yet, no... I've got my eyes peeled... Say, could you push for armor form next time? ...Hehe, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Hey, I gotta split, the readers are getting pissed that we're cutting into a fight scene... I'll chat later. See you soon."

And with that, Rei clenched her fist, closing the phone. She sighed, laying down on the grass where she crashed. "Maybe I'll get to have some of your meat buns next time?"

Looks like Ichijou wasn't the only one with a hidden partner.

* * *

"Satisfying, but still boring," Rokugou regarded her fallen foes before her. Miyako and Nodoka couldn't hold their own for much longer than anyone else she trumped this far. Yue had no pactio as of yet, so she was little more than a horrified NPC acting as a spectator to a fierce battle. Haruna stood her ground protectively against Yue, but could do little else. Suddenly, Rokugou leered in Haruna's direction. "Why don't I munch on you next? If you stay still it won't hurt."

"You..." Miyako strained to speak, but that failed miserably, as her lines for this episode ran out.

"Screw that thought," Haruna countered, her grin hiding her bravado well. "Looks like that bondage hentai did a number on your personality."

"Perhaps he did," Rokugou answered coolly. "But _I_ followed _him_. You, on the other hand... who have you been following?"

"Me," It was a simple and powerful statement, but one Haruna took seriously, ignoring her own nervousness.

"Would you follow yourself... TO THE BOTTOM OF MY STOMACH?!" Rokugou bellowed, lunging for the bite.

"Rokugou-san!" A voice bellowed, sounding out to the girl. The blue-haired girl of destruction stopped mid-assault, turned to see Negi and Akira, standing atop a bookcase. Each assumed a badass pose akin to a shounen manga male lead as Negi spoke. "Stop this madness at once!" He held out his staff. "I will engage you... please, just leave my class alone!"

"Is that so?" Rokugou quirked an eyebrow, a dark grin crossing her face. "Mages aren't suited for taking a beating... let's see how long you last," Rokugou sprinted after the boy, quickly wall-jumping up a tall bookcase before picking up speed at the top, seeing as Negi and Akira quickly fled. She sprinted after them viciously, interested in the possibility of them actually putting up a fight.

This left only the fallen heroines, Haruna, and a shivering Yue. After Rokugou had left, Yue finally moved, although she was still shivering as if someone just dumped her in the North Pole. "Nodoka...?" She ventured.

"Nodoka!" Haruna rushed and cradled her for the second time this year. "Get yourself together!"

"I... I'm okay, Yue, Haruna..." Nodoka breathed. She smiled weakly. "Funny how you're doing this again, Haruna... I'm sorry Yue-Yue had to see the world of magic like this."

"Nodoka..." Yue began. Magic really was getting dangerous...

"And I'm also sorry... that I—no, we—hid this from you." Nodoka coughed.

"Nodoka... don't sound like you're dying!" Haruna half-complained, half-whined.

"But I'm so bruised and tired that I sound weak..." Nodoka complained back, a stream of tears falling from her face. She fell out of her armored form and back into her normal clothing. "I don't wanna die..."

"Nodoka... relax," Yue softly commanded, laying her down. "It looks like only Negi-sensei and Ookouchi-san can stop her now... huh?" She looked up, a familiar shadow standing over her. "You—"

"Hey... mind telling me where they went?" The shadow asked.

* * *

The center of Library Island... one could consider it the heart of Library Island. If this place fell to darkness... wait. Wrong fanfic.

Negi and Akira sailed here, feeling that this was the best place to conclude the battle... or at least stall Rokugou out long enough for her to return back to normal. Negi landed, and Akira stood nearby as he surveyed the area. "This looks like the only spot... Shame, Akira-san. I've been here once before, and the scenery here is beautiful, if a bit weird."

"I think it is, too." Akira responded. "For instance, I like the pool over there," she pointed to a large circular area, surrounded by what appeared to be a lake.

Negi sighed. "Akira-san, why are you so predictable with water?"

Akira shrugged, a simper on her face. "Guess that's just how I am."

Kamo popped out of Negi's pocket, turned around, and panicked. "AIYAH! Pay attention, she's here!"

"So this is where you're hiding?" The two of them turned to see Rokugou's savage grin. Much like a gangster who was here to collect, Rokugou had arrived to distribute—a can of whoopass, that is. "Or the more likely thing here is you're about to fight me, which is... what is that internet term again? Oh yeah, 'lolworthy.'"

Negi clenched his teeth and stepped forward, but Akira suddenly blocked his path. "Negi-sensei. Allow me to deal with her."

"Akira-san?"

"I'm number six on the class roll, too. I think it's only fair I get to see just who is the superior 'Rokugou'." She answered, cracking her knuckles. She leered down her foe.

Rokugou interest GET. "IS THAT SO?" If her shadows weren't prominent before, they were now. The almost flower-like arrangement seemed to grow more menacing as Rokugou took a fighting stance. "Let me show you what it's like to talk out the side of your mouth girlie."

They stared down each other for a while. That's how it started.

Rokugou dipped into the earth and lunged first.

Akira assessed her options—this was the first time she had transformed, much less her cosplay form. She could attack with her brute strength or attack with the strange, sword-like branch she had with her.

As Rokugou snapped her jaws on her like a Great White Shark, Akira tried the branch.

Rokugou's jaws sank right in, nearly destroying the branch, but it was more than enough for Akira to stomp down on the girl. At the last second, Rokugou took a handspring and jumped backwards, landing steadily before lunging forward again with her own punch. Akira evaded this just as easily, only for Rokugou to add up the ante and start rapidly punching. The water girl opted to block this round of attacks instead, walking backwards to avoid being overwhelmed by the furious attack. Rokugou sneered, seeing an obvious advantage, charged one powerful twilight punch...

A few seconds later, she was eating a row of nasty geyser blasts. Tossed up in the air like a rag doll, the once-nice-now-insane girl clenched her teeth and sought out where the other girl was. Turns out Akira had just landed some distance away, as if she leaped across a row of them.

"Huh, interesting power," Akira muttered as she landed and slid to a stop. She rose and sprinted towards the other girl. Rokugou's eyes flared before landing and countering Akira's punch with her own. The hot-blooded punching between the two ladies continued until Akira suddenly smirked, twirling that branch. Four geysers smashed Rokugou into the air. "You like this?" She taunted. She rode another wave of geysers across to where Rokugou landed, sending her airborne again.

"Interesting! But let's see you pull that again!" Rokugou bellowed. She dived towards Akira, screaming "TERIIAAAA!" liken a banshee the whole way. Akira countered with a blast of geysers, but that unfortunately didn't stop Rokugou from landing a shounen villain kick(tm) to her face. The girl tumbled to the ground as Negi looked on in horror.

"Akira-san!" He shouted.

As Akira struggled to recover from that attack, the now vicious Rokugou stepped towards her. "Even as defeat awaits you, I give you credit for being a better challenge than the fools in the past," she stopped in front of the girl. "But now your fate is sealed..." She grabbed the girl by her neck. "We shall go together..." She tossed her up into the sky, and Rokugou disappeared within a swath of twilight tendrils. In a series of brutal attacks, Rokugou smashed into Akira with shounen villain punches(tm), forcing Akira to reel from shounen heroine shock(tm) as she spiraled higher and higher. Negi and Kamo of course, could only look on in shounen bystander horror(tm).

Rokugou prepared her final attack at the apex of the swirling mass of twilight. She aimed a fist, shot straight towards Akira...

The water girl caught it.

"Gotcha now!" Akira smirked, and with mighty force smashed her into the ground with that branch. Rokugou strained as Akira bellowed out the dreaded words "DANCE, WATER, DANCE!" Rokugou kicked out from under the girl and stood up.

She was facing ten water clones. She had ten seconds to defeat all of them.

It only took her one.

"Our the uh-oh," Akira noted. She was rewarded with a punch to the face.

The girl strained to recover. With a small smile, she put on some glasses. "You wouldn't hit a girl with glasses on, would you?" She was rewarded with a punch to the face. The glasses broke.

Akira strained to recover again. With a small smile, she said, "Hey Vegeta—" She was rewarded with a punch to the face.

"Akira-san!" Negi panicked, flailing like a man with his pants on fire. "Stop fooling around!"

Rokugou's annoyance grew. "I'm fed up with this madness! I'll make you hate me!" She flipped and aimed a powerful kick at Akira's head. However, the swimmer merely shot her hand up and blocked the blow.

"This doesn't suit you at all," Akira grabbed Rokugou's outstretched leg and flung her away. Rokugou, anger flaring, stormed back and fired massive, twirling tendrils of darkness and light. Akira evaded these easily and smashed the other girl with a kick to her side. However Rokugou recovered easily and seemed to phase right back in front of the girl—a flash-step. Rokugou unleashed a fury of twilight punches, but Akira simply evaded all of them. "You should be..."

Rokugou kneed her in the stomach, sending her airborne.

"AKIRA-SAN!" Negi yelled uselessly for about the third time.

The girl flash-stepped again in front of Akira, ready to smash her again. She aimed... But at once she realized something dreadfully wrong.

Akira had that calm smile on her face again, and she had her palm near Rokugou's face. "...the nice young girl from before." Akira finally finished that thought, and Rokugou suddenly ate a blast of water all the way down to the ground, which she hit so hard the floor cracked and the earth shook with a mighty -BOOM-.

And that, my friends, is what I call a shounen pwn(tm).

Akira landed on the ground. Gazing at the fallen girl, she still had that soft smile on her face. The other girl had fallen out of her armor form and was back to her normal self. Seeing this, Akira was relieved... so she sank to her knees.

"Akira-san!" Negi cried, rushing to her side.

"She's amazing, big bro!" Kamo said. "She managed to single-handedly defeat someone that nearly everyone else failed at!"

"Yeah..."Negi looked at the fallen girl before him, her eyes shut, her body not moving. "Akira-san, is she..."

"You..." Negi was surprised to hear the angry voice of Cygnus. The snarling boy stood at the entryway of the giant atrium, his face contorted with hatred. It appeared as if he had just teleported from a high-speed blast of darkness, perhaps the moment Rokugou had been defeated. Darkness billowed from him, rage apparent on his features.

"Cygnus-san," Negi prepared his staff. "What is the mean—"

"How DARE YOU do that to ROKUGOU!" Darkness blew like a fierce wind, and Negi and Kamo were blown away. It took about twenty feet before Negi could finally hold his ground. Akira, on the other hand, didn't move at all.

The really bad news: that's exactly what Cygnus was counting on. "You... Face. Judgment." He brought his arm back, and made a slashing movement. The resulting wave of darkness tore through Akira.

Or would have, had a certain blue hedgehog not gotten in the way.

Negi looked on in shock as Sonic stood there, the darkness slowly splitting his body in two. Surprisingly, he only stood there. Had anyone but Cygnus been looking at him, they would've seen a soft smile on his face. "Not exactly how I wanted this partnership to end... but you got to protect your friend... right, Misora?"

"Misora...san?" Negi blinked.

"It's up to you..." Sonic faded to darkness and disappeared in two halves, and both halved burst out of existence. One half left a green Chaos Emerald. The other...

"Misora..." Akira whispered. "I was right." Aforementioned Misora slumped to the ground, breathing heavily, but otherwise okay.

"Misora-san was the chupacabra?!" Negi shouted incredulously. He then turned to Cygnus, who was now carrying Rokugou and hovering in the air. "You—"

"While you are all ASSSAVAGES for nearly killing your own friend, I do have to thank you for making it easier to move forward with my original plan." Cygnus bellowed, grinning nastily. The white and green emeralds hovered around him as he floated higher and higher. Suddenly, they moved apart, and a massive portal, reeking of darkness appeared. "Soon, I will plunge this _entire dimension_ into _darkness_!" If anyone saw Cygnus pointing to the portal, they ignored it. "If you want Rokugou back, I will be waiting for you... deep within the Heart of Darkness!" He laughed maniacally as he disappeared into the portal, Chaos Emeralds with him. The portal, however, remained.

"No... Rokugou-san!" Negi called desperately. He readied his staff, prepared to give chase...

"Hold it, bouya." Evangeline's voice stopped him.

"Evangeline-san..." Negi stopped and looked past Akira and Misora to see the girl standing there, Chachamaru of course by her side.

"You idiot... by defeating Rokugou like that, you severed that boy's only link to his sanity," Evangeline scolded, much to the wide-eyed shock of the others (minus Chachamaru). "If he continues to fester in that darkness of his, he'll be driven completely insane and start flooding more than that pocket-dimension of his into darkness. He houses the dangerous spirit Mephiles the Dark after all."

"But isn't that all the more reason to stop him?!" Negi questioned.

"Yes, bouya, but not alone." Evangeline answered. She stepped aside, and Negi saw a shocking sight.

All of his students, the ones already affiliated with magic, were standing there. Beaten up, weary, and out of their pactios, but with determined faces. Apparently Konoka, Setsuna, and Ichijou had returned as well. "Everyone..." he gasped. He ran over to them which at that moment he bowed his head down. "I'm sorry for getting all of you involved like this..."

Through the crowd, a small, blond-haired girl in a lab coat marched up and smacked him on the head. "You idiot! We're your partners!" She hugged him.

"Becky-san..." Negi shed manly tears of happiness. "...everyone. So I have one selfish request." He faced everyone. "Will you help me?"

"YES!" Came the collective answer.

He noticed Asuna-san was sobbing, however. "Asuna-san...? Why are you crying?"

"S-she took my role," Asuna pointed at Becky. "I hope you guys have a wonderful time together..."

"Asuna-san!" Negi flailed.

"Get a grip!" Konoka added, chuckling.

"While there's a few of you who know a few things you shouldn't," Motsu made a random, badass appearance by walking out of the shadows. "Considering the nasty circumstances, I will let that slide." Shichimi and a shaking Mesousa followed him. "Well now! It appears our heroes are now walking into the final dungeon (after maybe a strategy session or two)! With that cursed dark boy threatening all worlds with the power of darkness, can they keep him in check? TUNE IN NEXT TIME!"

Hey, those are MY LINES! Motsu was squashed into frog paste by a random foot.

-&-

"I am Cygnus... the harbringer of darkness, the Devil's Swan. Those fools who journey into the Heart of Darkness... will suffer within their own hatred for all eternity. Perhaps my origins are finally worth revealing to Rokugou...? Next time: 'Those Who Know Nothing... Understand Nothing.' by Cygnus. Open your heart. SUBMIT TO DARKNESS!"

(FINALLY! Now the real heavy edits are about to begin. Pay attention now, because I dropped a hint somewhere...

WLDM is going slow as I write this, but don't give up. You'll see something hopefully next week when Seraph and I aren't cursed with school...)


	10. Those Who Know Nothing by Cygnus

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Episode 9: "Those Who Know Nothing... Understand Nothing." By Cygnus**

It seemed like somebody was setting the stage for a certain mood.

A rainstorm had begun outside, the rain and pit-pat against the windows could somehow be heard within the walls of the giant library. The gray cast sky darkened the already poorly lit library, but as Negi and friends had gathered nearby a large window, this didn't matter. All of them had gathered around Negi and Evangeline as all pondered both Misora's involvement and as well as their next step.

"Cygnus..." Negi said. "...why? I still don't understand that..."

"He's a _bastard_, obviously," Becky clenched her fists. "Did you _see_ what he did to Rokugou?! She tried to make us hate _her_ instead! If that's not brainwashing I don't know what is!"

"Actually it's not," Rei idly added. "She had that personality because it came with the armor card (Plus she's so lovestruck it's hopeless)."

"Hey wait, does that mean that Becky doesn't know what brainwashing is?" Himeko randomly added. Unfortunately her idiocy did not pay off this time as Miyako swatted her off of the bookcase she was sitting on, causing her to crash painfully into the ground.

"SHUT UP," Miyako hissed.

"Silence, brats," Evangeline muttered. "The air's getting annoying."

"You mean you're getting annoying?" Asuna quipped back. Evangeline began to move to teach that upstart brat a thing or two, but Negi decided there was enough of that.

"Ladies, please stop fighting," The boy meekly requested. Surprisingly, they listened to him, although begrudgingly. Silence ensued, dancing about the crowd but avoiding Asuna and Evangeline. Those two still snarled at each other like angry dogs as Negi continued, "Eva-san, what did you mean by Cygnus housing a 'Mephiles the Dark'?"

"Ah... that," The vampire girl stopped her squabbling with Asuna and shoved her out of the way as she faced Negi again. "That demon is a dimensional traveler of lore, and from what I've seen of that dark boy's powers, they are highly similar... exactly similar, I should say."

"So he's actually a demon!?" Becky gasped.

"Not fully," Evangeline corrected. "It seems like that monster is inside him... or even more likely, they've merged into one being."

"Scientists turning into demons? Interdimensional travel? That kind of thing makes my head spin," Kurumi moaned.

"Huh..." Miyako scratched her head. "Hey Yue-san. Didn't that tale of that scientist guy mention something about being snatched by a demon?"

"_Orpheus_," Yue filled her in on the title. "And yes, it does mention something about demons..."

"Just demons, huh?" Haruna said, and kept unusually silent from thereafter.

"I studied about a man named Orpheus back in magic school," Negi cheerily added. Miyako and Yue's jaws dropped. "He was pretty recent, a mage scientist that prided himself in research over transportation and interdimensional travel. I studied him with greats like Merlin, the Yagokoro house, Dumbledore, and others!"

"Dumbledore...?" Nodoka blinked, hope sparkling in her eyes.

"Spoilers still apply (although not in the same way). Sorry."

Nodoka sank in teary disappointment. LOL Nodoka.

"Wait a damn second!" Miyako bellowed. "You mean to tell me since Orpheus is real..."

"...that there's actually a civilization on the moon?!" Yue finished.

"...I don't know too much about it... sorry," Negi shrugged. "Ironically I never studied much about the moon civilization, but little else is known about them. They've largely kept themselves from Earth... supposedly there were attempts to communicate with them, but..."

"I remember the book saying that Orpheus was driven mad on the moon..." Yue said, her brain churning through all of this new information. "And that he pushed for one last experiment."

Suddenly, an idea struck Evangeline! Almost physically!

Noting the shocked face of the girl, her robot servant looked her over. "Master... is everything all right."

"Chachamaru, I've been slapped by an epiphany."

"But I see no imprint."

"FIGURATIVELY!" She shot back. She pounded a fist into her palm. "From what I told Takamichi, Mephiles was summoned by a scientist not too long ago. When an experiment failed, he was sealed away. But that seal was weak, and he escaped and vowed revenge...

"I bet Orpheus was that scientist." Evangeline explained. "A demon that can travel between dimensions freely would be the ultimate appetite for a scientist interested in studying the same thing, right?"

"Then that means..." Negi trailed off, the same epiphany slap attacking him as well.

"Cygnus is actually ORPHEUS?!" Becky gasped. The epiphany was now on a slapping spree, shocking the whole group with its revelation. The author grew fed up of this abuse and kicked it into oblivion so he could move on with this story. No longer affected by the shock, Becky continued to think. "That explains the darkness obsession, and that kinda explains the weird personality and the whole swan thingy explains the name change, but... being possessed by a demon, wouldn't that make him... I dunno, a _little_ more consistently evil?"

Silence crashed the party once more. It tap-danced across the room as everyone looked at each other, wondering about the answer to Becky's question.

"Well, I was told..." For the first time since this meeting began, Misora spoke up. All eyes fell on her, causing her to shrink back a bit. "Umm... well he's kinda weak in the sanity department, right? And when everyone beat up Rokugou, he completely lost it. So I'm guessing that she's the reason he can still hold a conscience... at least I think so."

"That affirms it." Negi stood up. "There is still some humanity within Cygnus... if we can seal away that demon... Orpheus can be free." Negi reached into his pocket to pull out something, but then he looked at Misora for a moment. "Hey, Misora-san... how were you able to use my magic?"

"Aheheh," The girl rubbed her neck and fidgeted. If he learned the whole story... "Well... I've had a ring for some time now... it was created to harness a mage's powers provided that the mage doesn't openly resist it."

"Can I see it?"

Misora moved to find it in her pocket. She felt around...

OUR THE UH-OH.

"Eh... I'll have to show you later." Misora nervously giggled a bit. While most everyone else shrugged, Rei looked at Misora in horror as if she had sprouted giant tendrils and killed everyone else in the room.

"Negi..." Becky said, catching the boy's attention.

"Becky-san?"

"We should get going. We still have Cygnus to fight with and Rokugou to rescue, right?"

"Exactly." Negi prepared his staff. "But... I can't take everyone with me. I don't know how dangerous this can get." Much of the gang immediately shouted objections to that idea.

"Negi! You know we agreed to join you, no matter what the danger!" Asuna shot back.

"That's right!" The twins added. The clamor between everyone grew louder.

"There is some truth to his words," Ichijou stopped the party with her words, and silence tap-danced onto the stage again.

"Some?!" Negi looked crestfallen.

"Bondage hentai's true form in that darkness is likely a tentacle monster," she concluded, making everyone crash. "Even if it isn't, Negi-sensei can only support so many people at full power before his own strength might diminish worrying over everyone else. A smaller team would work."

Negi considered this, furrowing his brow all the while.

"Do you agree with that assessment, bouya?" Evangeline leered at Negi.

"..." Negi continued to think. Perhaps a smaller assault would work, since Cygnus could too easily play with larger numbers. But the problem came from what would be a back-up plan should he fail... NO. He's got five of the freaking Chaos Emeralds! He CAN'T fail! "Yes. Let's do it. I'll take three people with me."

"I'M GOING!" Becky and Asuna immediately stood by the boy's side.

There was much discussion, and while most were brave enough to follow, only two dared speak up.

"Umm..." Nodoka began. Unfortunately she lost to...

"Count me in! I'm OMEGA gonna show Cygnus a thing or two!" Himeko bounced up and landed in front of Negi. "I still have that meat bun promise!"

"Umm... Himeko-san..." Negi began.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL TALKING ABOUT MEAT BUNS?!" Miyako shouted from her perch.

Rei could only laugh heartily. "Looks like there's no stopping her."

Nodoka sank in disappointment for the second time.

"You should be stronger, Nodoka!" Yue silently coached her friend.

Courage renewed from her friend's words, Nodoka approached Negi. "Negi, we'll keep supporting you, even from the sidelines!" She turned to the rest of them. "The rest of you... good luck. Even Becky-sensei!"

"Even?" Becky caught the subtle half-insult.

"Don't forget, Becky-sensei," Haruna spoke up again, "You're waltzing on her territory now."

"Huh?"

"Forget about it," Rei muttered, waving her off with a sly grin. "She's even more hopelessly and obliviously lovestruck than Rokugou."

"The hell are you talking about?!"

Negi smiled again and cut off the argument before it could grow. "Well then, let's go!" The legendary four stepped on towards the door leading back into the core of Library Island. However, before he could reach it, Negi sensed Evangeline and Chachamaru leaving... in the opposite direction. "Evangeline-san?"

The vampire girl yawned. "I'm kinda tired. But for the most part, this isn't my fight. If you had any suspicions that I was gone from this madness purposefully... then you were right." She gave him a toothy grin. "But don't disappoint me bouya. I'm still watching you."

"I won't," Negi smiled again.

"We'll show YOU a thing or two!" Becky shouted at Eva's back, flailing madly. By that time, however, the two of them had left. Becky grumbled something incoherently angry before facing towards Negi.

Turns out that the boy had a few last words to say. "Everyone... keep vigilant for us, okay?" Negi faced the crowd of people-being-shafted-out-of-the-final-battle ("Don't describe us like that!" Kurumi complained.). "If worse comes to worse... find Evangeline-san or Takamichi. Thank you all for your support, and I'm sorry that I can't take all of you along."

The rest of the gang returned a nod.

"Farewell," Negi, Asuna, and Becky left towards the door and prepared to face darkness itself. They disappeared into the other room.

"Bon voyage!" Himeko waved cheerily to the rest of the crowd, only for an irate Miyako to drop kick her away into the other room.

"DAMMIT, IF YOU'RE GONNA GO, JUST LEAVE ALREADY!" She shouted. The girl then sighed in annoyance. "Geez!"

Setsuna, who had been mostly silent, had noticed that unlike most everyone else, Konoka HAD been silent, which was quite shocking on its own. The healer was deep in thought, thinking about what she had learned about Cygnus, and as well as her own recent powers.

"Ojou-sama?" Setsuna questioned.

"Secchan..." Konoka suddenly rose. "Remember our promise?"

Setsuna rose. What was that girl thinking...?

* * *

The warp hole was merely a glint of light in the twisted darkness.

And someone said: "Let there be Springfield!"

The boy, spinning rapidly, sailed from the warp and landed gracefully, albeit with a thunderous crash when he hit the ground. And it was good.

Becky and Asuna landed behind him in the same fashion.

Himeko... not so much. She crashed head first into the darkness. Ouch, that's gotta leave a mark!

Three of them rose from the crouching land, while the last had to pull her head out of the pitch-black ground. Himeko woozily muttered something about ostriches as she looked across to see what everyone else was looking at.

It was a serene lake and a patch of land, standing alone against the unholy darkness. Our heroes regarded this with a nervous sort of silence.

Negi gazed some distance before spotting someone, her body visible within the darkness.

"Rokugou-san..." Negi whispered.

She was lying there, as if asleep. Her fair face looked peaceful.

However, that was not to last long.

Darkness and mist suddenly rose, swallowing her up. A sudden quake jolted our heroes as from the darkness, they could see the faint outline of a mighty castle rise in front of them. The "earth" beneath them shook as the castle continued to rise, parting the darkness above and revealing a starry night sky and a pale yellow moon. Darkness swirled violently around the newly created castle, which finally stopped rising and stood, grand and menacing, against the backdrop of the strange moon. All but the top was obscured by thick darkness and a fine mist from the lake.

"He's gone all out for a final battle arena, hasn't he?" Asuna noted.

"That aura... it's loaded with hatred and madness, big bro!" Kamo popped out of his safe perch from Negi's pocket. "Be on your guard!"

Before the author was forced to write about Himeko's random drunkenness, Cygnus appeared at the top of the grand castle. His neon-orange eyes regarded them as he looked down. His chilling sneer could be seen all the way from where Negi stood.

"WELL NOW!" Cygnus bellowed, activating the dreaded CAPS LOCK OF AWESOME. "Ye who enter the Heart of Darkness shall be entirely eclipsed by the night! YE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN DARKNESS, SHALL TASTE IT FOR _ALL ETERNITY_!"

"Don't count on it," Becky hissed.

"So how ya like me now?!" Cygnus taunted. "I think I got the super villain thing down pat at last!"

"Certainly got the speeches, even if they don't make sense," Kamo rubbed his tiny chin.

"The Bedeviled Swan King invites you to drown in this heart-lorn world of madness! Come forth, die if you dare!" Cygnus laughed maniacally as he held out one hand. At once, large swarms of darkness gathered at that hand. They burst out from there crashing into random parts of the castle. "MY POKEYMANS! LET ME _SHOW_ YOU THEM!"

"What's he doing?" Asuna blinked.

"Those aren't Pokeymans!" Himeko pointed in horror.

"He's pulling something nasty I bet," Becky added in terror.

"..." Negi stepped forward. "We'll just have to take whatever he throws at us. Maybe... maybe we can still reach Orpheus inside Cygnus. We have to stop him." He focused his magic, his magic stick whipped out in front. "Partners: Miyamoto Rebecca, Kagurazaka Asuna, Katagiri Himeko! Show me the power within you!" Not even bothering to be flashy this time around, he simply summoned the orb. "Contract... ACTIVATE!" He swung his right hand under it and pulled out three cards. The shining light brought each of those girls their cosplay cards: Becky and her cat claws, Asuna and her paper fan, and Himeko and her pink mallet of love and doom.

All three girls clutched Negi's stick tightly as he stored massive wind energy and released it, causing all four to shoot forward like a bullet towards the wicked castle.

But unbeknownst to our current set of heroes, another two had followed them in. Like secret lesbian ninjas, Konoka and Setsuna— "WE ARE NOT SECRET LESBIANS!" Setsuna vehemently denied, apparently liking the ninja title.

Setsuna flapped her wings steadily as she carried Konoka, her red eyes set on their destination. Unafraid of the darkness, the two of them flew inside. It would be interesting to note, however, that their aura was strong enough to distort the space around them in a most interesting fashion...

* * *

The darkness and mist swathed skies ahead did nothing to deter Negi and his crew, oh no. They tore through relentlessly until they finally found the splendor of the castle itself.

Its huge, massively black walls looked reminiscent of dark marble. As far as they could see, there were stain-glass windows, tall towers, and statues of swans adorned about the building. To summon this building in the mere span of two hours... Cygnus would have to be either really powerful or really insane. If not the former... he was certainly the latter.

Upon touching base on the castle, though, Negi and pals heard the flapping of wings, and at once a swarm of swans streaked by.

"Geez, is he trying to flood us with symbolism or something?" Chamo asked.

However, the group had bigger problems.

"Erm, Negi?" Becky ventured. As the others looked at her, she pointed backwards. "We have shadows... thousands of them!"

And indeed, there were shadows—but they were dark, ethereal copies of _the heroes themselves_. One looking like Negi raised his right hand, and the group was forced to scatter as a bolt of lightning crashed between them.

"Dammit, they fight like us, too!" Asuna shouted as she dodged a sword swipe from one of her shadowy copies.

"Nooo, I'm gonna get hungry at this rate," Himeko cried, galloping forward to dodge another spell from a shadow Negi and countering with her hammer. "We don't have time for this! We gotta beat the final boss so we can have more meat buns!" Her hammer succeeded in smashing the shadow away, briefly confusing the other shadows.

"Bum rushing levels won't do us any good, ya know," Asuna said, sweeping her fan across a distracted shadow copy of her. "But she's right, we gotta move faster!"

"Easier said than done, but I'm on it," Negi hissed. Whipping his hand back, he prepared a magic spell... "Tel ma... AMORIS!" He then shot his hand forward, and a burst of wind knocked a few shadows away. With the path cleared somewhat, Negi motioned, "Let's move!"

As they dashed away from the crowd and onto a huge bridge, Becky slowed down and looked back. The lone shadow imitating her, recovering from Negi's attack, stood up. It opened its mouth wide, and energy began to gather.

Becky panicked. "GET TO THE SIDE!"

"What?!" The others responded, but trusting Becky and fighting a growing sense of fear, they quickly spread to the sides of the bridge, just as a devastating beam of shadow tore through the middle. The attack was so fierce it was a moment before everyone recovered.

"What... WAS THAT?!" Asuna complained.

"Hey wait... if those things can imitate us..." Becky pondered. "...does that mean I have a mouth beam as well?" Out of childish curiosity, the girl opened her mouth wide and tried to imitate her attacker.

"Don't try it, Miyamoto brat," Asuna muttered, grabbing the girl by her shirt and dragging her along as they made their escape, with Becky protesting the entire way.

The gang sprinted deeper into the castle. Ignoring the ever-growing feelings of fear and madness, Negi and his entourage put their all into finding the top of the castle, where the swan king lied in wait.

* * *

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

Aside from quoting Kingdom Hearts, that message also held some relevancy to the situation. The fake moon shone brightly, its pale yellow light falling on the four heroes as they stood at the top of the castle. However, the intensity of the darkness around and below them was at its most dangerous. It was here that Cygnus stood, smiling evilly at the center of this dark and twisted world.

"WELL THEN, NEGI SPRINGFIELD! REBECCA MIYAMOTO (And you other female pedophiles too)!" Cygnus's voice was loud, demented, and filled with the CAPS LOCK OF RAGE. "Welcome to Hell's Cesspool! It is HERE that I will DEVOUR your _hatred_ and consume this world in _darkness_!" His eyes gleamed wildly. At this point the boy had truly lost control of both mind and body, leaving only his distorted malice and desire for vengeance.

"Cygnus! This ends here!" Negi shouted. "I cannot allow you to endanger my students, or Becky's students, any longer!"

"Look at what you've done to Rokugou!" Becky shouted, rage so powerful that tears threatened to show. "I won't forgive you! I'll send you back to hell!"

"What _I've_ done to Rokugou...?" His voice hit a sudden strange calm, almost knocking them out of their rage. "That darkness she showed you... that was _her own heart_. I guess even she is not immune... But... don't you see? As my most beautiful curse, I turn evil upon itself, no matter who holds it!" But five seconds later he was back to his raging self. "But THAT DOESN'T MATTER, since all of your HATRED shall BELONG to ME! Give IN to that darkness in your hearts!"

"WHAT YOU SAY?!" Becky reeled back.

"Send out every Maho!" Himeko countered.

"Your final boss speech doesn't even make sense!" Asuna complained, smacking Himeko. "What about a taste for revenge, or your evil plan for world domination, or even talking about mad slaughter?!" She took a fighting stance. "I guess it doesn't matter, since I'm taking you down anyway!"

"It is because I don't seek any of those things!" Cygnus bellowed. "All are irrelevant to THE DARKNESS!"

"Orpheus-san... you aren't this terrible! Can't you fight it?!" Negi shouted.

"Orpheus is dead... irrelevant to THE DARKNESS!"

"You've got a bloody demon inside you!" Becky shouted.

"Irrelevant to the DARKNESS!"

"Delicious meat buns... must eat!" Himeko got into a fighting stance.

"IRRELEVANT TO THE DARKNESS!"

Becky smacked her palm against her face. "I don't know what's more retarded, Cygnus's line spamming or the fact that Himeko is STILL talking about meat buns..."

"It doesn't matter, like Cygnus said," Negi answered, taking Becky by surprise. "I remember now... Orpheus was a man driven mad not only by other people's suffering but his own lamentations..." He took a fighting stance. "Don't have much of a choice, do we? We put an end to this _here_."

"Put an end... to _me_?" Cygnus enunciated slowly. He then started laughing harshly.

He bared his teeth, and he shouted to the non-existent heavens. "**CYGNUS CANTUS**!"

At once, darkness flared. shooting out and nearly obscuring everyone's vision.

Negi struggled to keep on his feet as the darkness blasted through. He eventually slowed to the stop, but he felt that the silence was no good news. The only sound he could hear were the horrible sounds of flesh... growing, and suddenly, two... massive wings beating.

This... can't be good.

Kamo shouted a warning. "WATCH OUT, BIG BRO!" Negi, right at the edge of his peripheral view, suddenly became aware of a dark blue claw shoot out for him from the darkness. By either miracle or speed, Negi dashed backwards, narrowly avoiding those strange, tattoo-like razors. The missed attack gave way to those monstrous wings beating again. He backed away slowly to see... Cygnus.

Instead of seeing something resembling a human, he found himself face to face with a massive black swan. From its perch, it took up more than half of the rooftop, and with a wingspan that massive, no wonder it felt like he could hear nothing else. Neon orange eyes leered down at Negi and his tiny peon group, and let out an awful, powerful screech.

"Giant swan..." Asuna half-marveled, half-quaked in fear. "Totally expected, yet still so scary!"

"Uh-oh," Himeko swallowed hard.

"EEP!" Chamo went back into hiding.

Cygnus lifted one wing. It quivered with power, before a mess of darkness shot out like ballistic missiles, zooming straight for our heroes. Becky screamed and rolled out of the way, the others weren't as lucky—the blast knocked each of them asunder.

Asuna, however, was the first to recover. Snarling, she readied her fan. "ORRRYAAAAA!" She sprinted towards the insane swan and took one mighty swing. The metal fan crashed into Cygnus's body, but otherwise had little effect other than making him flinch slightly. "Dammit!" Asuna cursed her own failure.

The gigantic swan straightened his neck and aimed at Asuna, before gathering energy at his beak. The girl simply pumped her legs and ran as fast as she could—it was all she could do to keep from screaming as a beam of energy shot from the swans mouth, nearly frying her.

Becky crouched, as if ready to pounce. "Here goes..." She began a fierce sprint, forced out her claws and swung upwards in a fierce strike right at Cygnus. The attack...

...failed to connect, as those strange, blue, tattoo-like claws had blocked the attack! Truly annoyed, Becky swiped again, but those claws seemed to have a mind of their own, blocking, parrying, and countering her moves with matched fury. However, a sudden lapse in judgment on the swan's part finally revealed an opening—Becky slashed hard, causing Cygnus to squawk and stumble back ever so slightly.

Unfortunately, the strike was a fluke. In seconds, the claws were back, and this time one got a lucky shot on Becky herself, causing the girl to stumble backwards in pain.

"Becky-san!" Negi screamed in worry.

The girl crashed onto the ground. Cygnus reared a nightmarish claw back, ready to finish her... Only for Becky to suddenly recover and counter his claw with hers. The swan showed surprise for a brief moment before trying his other claw... and Himeko jumped in. "STOP!" Her hammer easily met his free claw. "HAMMER TIME!"She smacked it away with ease. Cygnus ownage DENIED!

Cygnus screeched. His dark body took to the air, wings glistening with darkness before that scatter attack struck again, but Himeko flipped out of harm's way. "Can't touch me!" She crowed, doing a little dance. The giant swan swiped a wing at her, but failed to connect. "Can't touch me!" Himeko crowed again. "Can't touch me! Just like the good guys from Kingdom Hearts 2! I have plot-armor immunity! So Sora you can't sue!" She dodged a blast of darkness from Cygnus again. "Can't touch me!" She continued to dance again. Frustrated, Cygnus screeched again and tried one last vicious combo, only to see that fail as well.

Then he solved the problem by launching a claw and simply flicking her away. "OW... you touched me!" Be advised that reading into that would probably spell your death.

Cygnus stood and opened his wingspan, screeching to the heavens. At this, several massive pillars of darkness shot from the ground, causing the castle to shake from their power. The girls were knocked asunder through the attack, screaming all the way.

Negi snarled as he caught Becky to keep her from falling off the roof.. "You'll pay for this..." He swung back, chanting a magic spell. "AMORIS!" He bellowed, raising a hand. A shower of thunderbolts smashed into the swan, and Cygnus screeched in pain.

"Lightning's effective, but..." Negi mused silently.

"Negi!" Becky said, now recovered. "We'll distract him! Use another one of those lightning moves to finish him off!"

"Becky?!" Negi shouted in surprise as she jumped off, slashing again at the mighty swan again. The swan screeched and rose to Becky's challenge, swatting back with his own claws. Asuna too, bellowed like a warrior and joined Becky in the assault. Even Himeko, though bleating like a fool, smashed her hammer against him.

The swan retaliated with a rain of darkness, forcing the others back.

It was then Negi charged through, chanting once more. "Ras tel ma scir magister... **Show judgment, yon gods of lightning!** TEL MA... AMORIS!" Negi pointed his finger at Cygnus, and a nasty bolt of lightning struck the swan down. Cygnus only retaliated with a cacophony of pained shrieks.

However, the swan refused to stay down. Suddenly rising, he shot out bursts of darkness again, nearly knocking Negi out of the air, had he not guarded himself. The girls, however, weren't as lucky. The stray blasts knocked the girls into near submission.

"Himeko-san! Asuna-san! BECKY!" Negi's anger grew, ever so steadily. "**Why won't he stay down?!**" He cupped his hands together, drawing massive amounts of energy—there were five Chaos Emeralds in his pocket! Maybe that power could do the trick...

"Big bro! The madness is getting to you! Calm down!" Chamo pleaded.

Negi only answered with his powered attack. "Tempestas..." The boy swung his staff until he was looking straight down at the giant swan. He then fired, "FULGURIENS!" And a powerful blast of wind and lightning shot towards Cygnus, striking him directly in the back.

Cygnus let out an ear splitting shriek before falling to the ground at last.

Somewhat calm, Negi descended slowly, as the girls began to recover. Had it finally ended?

"Negi..." Asuna began, seeing his once livid face.

"NEGI!" Becky shouted in alarm. "It's a trap!"

And yet again, the swan rose. This time, within its claws rested two emeralds. Darkness swirled around everything... eclipsing everything—and everyone—in sight. As Negi fell to horror, he realized his anger was the bait.

Cygnus had manipulated him into his own anger. When he said he could make evil devour itself no matter who held it... he wasn't joking, was he?

As darkness eclipsed everything, Negi, however, stood strong. Even as everything faded to black, he saw that the seven Chaos Emeralds were close enough in proximity...

_...if you gather seven of them, they can perform miracles! _

_If I only believe_, Negi reached out slowly... and grabbed one.

From the darkness, Rokugou emerged. And she was waking up.

"I hear ya, Negi-kun!" A voice shouted, and a powerful blast of light shot down towards Cygnus, consuming him in the light. Cygnus's squawking and screeching reached fever pitch before finally cutting off altogether. Darkness and light exploded together, the swirling mass of resulting twilight shutting out like a cut off television signal.

And Rokugou had disappeared with him.

Negi couldn't believe it. The emeralds heeded that wish... but how? "What... what just happened?!"

"We were in the middle of a fight!" Asuna recovered and flailed around. "Did the game just glitch out on us?!"

"This isn't a game, Asuna-san," Negi sighed, rubbing his head.

"That's right!" Himeko added. "It's a fanfic!" Himeko was hit by an anvil and knocked unconscious.

"Light..." Becky stepped forward, answering the question. "How... could we have been so _stupid_? Light counters darkness, _duh_! I bet he was counting on us not wielding that kind of light."

"That's right!" Chamo popped out again. "And look, the seven Chaos Emeralds are still there! If we take them...!"

"...we can seal him away!" Negi completed the thought. "When seven are gathered, they perform miracles... maybe that's what rescued us."

"I get the feeling that he's coming back," Becky said. "Hurry, let's get ready and seal him!"

* * *

There was a realm supposedly where light and darkness were at their most violent, and lucky for Cygnus, that's exactly where he crashed. The literally broken bird just lay there, perhaps too weak to move, or just accepting fate. That powerful blast of light had severely weakened him, and very quickly. If he were caught like that again, it would spell his doom like a master spelling bee champion. And Dark-types hate bugs...

Somebody caught him. Female hands that... didn't hurt.

He was... human again?

Rokugou?

"Hi, Cygnus-kun..." Rokugou softly murmured. Somehow she was in cosplay form.

"Rokugou? Impossible...!" Cygnus murmured. He gave a weak, lopsided grin as he added, "You must be... a powerful young lady to fight for the light of my heart, despite not just me... but yourself."

"Of course," Rokugou answered. "I've admired you since we met, and I know enough to know what you're REALLY after, and I wanted to help." She smiled. Focusing her powers, she drew in the darkness Cygnus used so much, healing his wounds and restoring his power. "Besides, I already know I'm the reason you're sane."

Despite the slight pain, Cygnus had to laugh at that. "So you figured me out, huh? I give you my thanks for giving me my sanity back... I guess I can get scolded by Smallboss again."

"Cygnus!" Their voices. The two of them were here.

Rokugou looked up to see... "Konoka-san! Setsuna-san!" However, they felt quite different from what she remembered of them last time. Konoka had on elaborate Kansai robes. She wielded two oriental fans, and as well she shined with an amazing amount of light. Setsuna was no force to be ignored either... even in her pure demon form, she looked the part of a vengeful angel, her wings and hair purest white and her eyes blood red. She held her sword out, prepared to fight.

"Forgive us, Rokugou-han!" Konoka said. "We've got a small grudge against Cygnus-han!"

"End this foolishness now, Cygnus, and stop everyone's suffering!" Setsuna added.

"You two... damn you..." Cygnus was standing once again, and Rokugou stood by him. "Even now that light you wield constricts my heart... worse yet, you act like the princess and lady knight deal is an original thought." He smirked at this.

"What are you talking about?" Konoka tilted her head to one side.

"I don't think I'll be losing to you today!" Cygnus yelled. "Maybe I need light to guide my darkness, but I'll never succumb to it! Not now, _not ever_!" His power flared, darkness distorting the wild twilight arena.

"Rokugou-han?" Konoka asked. "You stand alongside evil?"

"I don't know if I'm evil," Rokugou answered. "I don't like fighting and pain. But Cygnus-kun is worth fighting for, even if he is evil! Plus, he doesn't quite reach Rei's level of evil anyway..." Cygnus crashed.

"Well, if ya put it that way I can't blame ya..."

Setsuna prepared her sword, flapping her powerful white wings. Her now red eyes glared. "In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!"

"Secchan, you can't use your epic fail before the fight even begins!" Konoka sighed, amidst the pratfalls of Cygnus and Rokugou.

Cygnus recovered first. "I will not stop. I wish to live... to see home once more."

"And I want to see it with him!" Rokugou added, attempting to look tough by thumping her chest. Key word there being _attempting_.

"We don't want to kill anyone," Konoka said... "But beyond that we will not hold back. It was our promise to each other."

"If you want to defend your boyfriend," Setsuna shot at Rokugou. "I'm not going to stop you... or avoid you. It's time for round two anyway!" Setsuna was incorrect, it was actually round three.

Rokugou chuckled nervously at that. It seemed she remembered her time as Rokujow.

Once they had assumed fighting positions, Konoka made the first move.

Two bursts of light shot towards Cygnus and Rokugou, forcing both to scatter. And in milliseconds Setsuna was all over them, sword moving faster than the common eye could detect. Cygnus countered, tendrils and excess darkness spilling as he and Rokugou continued to fight them off.

Cygnus had enough. Slinging his hand, he shot a thick beam of darkness in Konoka's direction.

Setsuna of course, wasn't having that. With a mighty flap of her wings, she shot towards the attack and cleaved it in two. Following that, she took to the air, balancing herself before she held her sword again. "Hykaretsu Ouka Zan!" She slashed her sword, and a rain of petals crashed down. Rokugou simply put up a barrier, but Cygnus had to weave between the attacks before he could temporarily hide behind the girl.

Cygnus snarled and smashed the ground, and a column of darkness burst into the sky. Setsuna guarded the attack, but was knocked askew anyway.

Konoka, despite the seriousness of the situation, remained as carefree and spunky as she rushed to attack. A familiar wooden line wrapped itself around Cygnus. "Ei!" She flung him into the air.

"Aw, hell naw..." Cygnus muttered, seeing what was coming next.

Just as he had suspected, Konoka was merely letting all of her powers do all the work—she wasn't controlling it at all! Beams of light shot towards him—all he could do was contort and dodge them as best as he could, but even then some beams still pierced his side. "ARGH!"

Rokugou, trying her best, sprinted towards the swan boy as he crashed into the ground. Staying by his side, she set another barrier, this time, blocking the massive beam spam headed in their direction. The light bounced off harmlessly.

Setsuna, however, did not.

Having recovered, she smashed through the barrier with ease. She sliced at Rokugou, chasing her backwards and away from Cygnus.

One sword swipe, however, missed. Or rather, it struck the wrong spot.

Rokugou's maid outfit torn from the blow, she crumpled out of shock. "AIIIEEE!"

"Huh _wait what_?!" Setsuna blinked, thoroughly confused on the matter. She was so confused that she hardly noticed when Cygnus kicked her out the way, despite a river of blood flowing from his nose.

"Now's not the time to be picking on girls, Cygnus-han!" Konoka chided. "We're putting a stop to your madness today!" She slung her hand forward. "EEII!"

"Don't bother!" Cygnus bellowed, blocking the oncoming burst of light with darkness-fortified hands. "Rrrraaauuugghh!" Despite all of his grunting and might, the light refused to give way. Only after an entire thirty seconds did the beam stop, and even then, his hands were singed. "You still don't have control over your powers, and yet you gambled to try and finish me."

"Incorrect!" Konoka answered. "I know I don't have control—and I'm not really trying to kill you so much as I'm trying to negate your power. If my power beats yours then I can restore the dimension and let Negi-kun send you home!"

"More like MY powers should override YOURS," Cygnus grinned. "But... you've danced well, woman! _Now_, shall we go for the finale?!"

"Of course!" Konoka simply let her powers go at max strength.

"Now I'll show you!" Cygnus yelled, pointing a finger directly at Konoka's finger. "IMPERFECT LUNACY!" It was almost like someone cut off the lights, that sickening clash of darkness simply devouring everything at the source. It was all the Kansai Princess could do to keep from losing her sanity as the strange twilight dimension exploded and ceased to be.

* * *

Seven chaos emeralds, gathered together. Their power shone like a miracle—after all, that was what they were there for.

Negi Springfield and Rebecca Miyamoto stood at opposing sides, focusing the swirling emeralds at the tiny spot where darkness and light clashed. Their minds were completely calm, save for the thought of sealing Cygnus away. Asuna and Himeko stood some distance away, looking on in awe.

Without warning, that spot of twilight flickered, and suddenly, it exploded. Four figures were tossed out in random directions, crashing onto the castle rooftops.

Negi and Becky scanned the face and immediately found Cygnus. However, they were a bit stunned at who else showed up at the party, namely a now conscious Rokugou, Konoka, and Setsuna. Konoka, however, was fast on the uptake. "Negi-kun!" She said, snapping them out of their shock. "NOW!"

This was it. Now or never. As Cygnus struggled to stand again, blood dripping down his body, the two child geniuses began their chant.

"Ras tel..."

"...ma scir..."

"MAGISTER!" They finished together, the emeralds glowing in unison.

"What...?" Cygnus didn't quite grasp what they were doing.

"**Weighted light...**" Negi began.

"**Go forward..**." Becky added. "**Travel beyond the door..**."

".**..and send it far away!**" The emeralds left their circle between the kids and circled the dark boy instead.

"Tel..."

"...ma..."

"AMORIS!" They both finished. Their words seemed to suck out all the noise in the room. One could hear a click of a door in America (which they probably did, if that random click was any indication).

Suddenly the area between the Chaos Emeralds became the world's most psychotic vacuum cleaner, sucking away the darkness in a crazy rush... and Cygnus along with it. "EYYYAAAAAGGGHHH!" He screeched, the drain against his power feeling something between pain, confusion, and fear. Wow, sounds emo, doesn't it?

"CYGNUS!" Rokugou cried.

Despite all the aforementioned pain and confusion, Cygnus made one thing clear. "Rokugou... STEP. BACK!" The good girl did as she was told.

"We finally stopped you!" Becky crowed. "Granted, we weren't expecting Konoe Ex Machina, but yeah, we stopped you!" Cygnus resisted laughing at their failure to plan significantly and decided to let them revel in their victory... "But one thing I don't get..." her tone softened. "Even now... You're looking out for Rokugou... aren't you? If you're still at least part of a human, why do you think you're so evil?"

Cygnus started chuckling, which eventually segued into full-blown laughter. "I am... Darkness. And darkness is cursed to be misunderstood. Even so... you wouldn't... no, you _can't_ seal me without righteous anger, which I finally managed to pull out of you in spades. I'd have to say..." Cygnus suddenly bared down, showing a toothy grin. "THANKS FOR _EXACTLY_ DOING WHAT I _WANTED_ YOU TO DO!"

Becky stared in horror for all of five seconds before she screamed. "JANE! STOP THIS CRAZY THING!" And tried (and failed miserably) to stop the Chaos Emeralds.

Cygnus laughed again. "Relax... no evil plot about this. I'm simply returning home." He looked at the other seven, his eyes somehow going soft despite the violent whirlwind of darkness and light around him. "It's such a shame we had to part ways before we could be friends, huh?"

Everyone else was silent. Perhaps, with the exception of one person: Rokugou.

"W-wait!" She ran up to him again and clutched a hand. "Are you... are you gone this time? For good?"

"End of the road for me," the boy answered. His smile softened even more as she became teary-eyed. "Even so... I won't forget."

"B-but," She sniffed. "Will we ever meet again?"

"Maybe... one day we'll cross paths again," By now Cygnus's body was disappearing in the maelstrom. He swept a bow with whatever was left. "Heheh, I'm sure of it..."

Rokugou smiled despite the teary eyes.

Himeko was crying by now, and decided to rudely use Asuna's costume as a handkerchief. Asuna retaliated with a broadside to the head.

"WELL NOW! Remember THAT DARKNESS in your heart!" Cygnus crowed. "Farewell!" And with maniacal laughter, he disappeared into the void, leaving only silence. The Chaos Emeralds stopped their powerful glow, flowing slowly down into the darkened realm. Silence once again wreaked havoc like a drunken frat boy.

"...So," Asuna said. "Is this case finally solved?"

"Yeah, looks like it," Negi said.

"So how come the credits aren't rolling?"

"Don't rush it," Kamo said, chilling out in his perch. "Let's soak in the victory a bit, all right?"

"I told you, it's a fanfic!" Himeko answered again, but once again anvils struck her down before she could continue to spout more conspiracy theories.

"Himeko-san, please cut it out," Negi tried to placate the crazy girl, but this eventually devolved into a mild argument between him, Himeko, and Asuna, which continued in the background somewhere to show its irrelevancy.

Becky stared at Rokugou, who looked like she had much better days, as well as Konoka and Setsuna, who also looked extremely weak. "Becky-san..." Rokugou began, her voice nearly broken.

"R... Rokugou?" Becky ventured.

"I... I'm sorry."

"So I take it you remember."

"You shouldn't worry so much," Konoka soothed, with Setsuna leaning against her. "It's all over now. Maybe we can finally get home."

"HOW ABOUT 'NO'!" A voice crowed. "I don't think this story deserves a happy ending! Not while I still have my debut!"

"Huh?!" This stopped everyone dead in their tracks.

"Ras tel! Ma scir! MAGISTER!" A man appeared, walking towards the group. He had on a red lab coat, black pants, and wore small goggles. Most of all, his handlebar mustache did nothing to hide his evil grin. And on his right hand sat a familiar ring.

"That ring..." Negi stared in horror.

"All to darkness, everything which returns! The border between darkness and light, creation and destruction, open your door for me!" The mad scientist before them stopped walking, almost as if he was waiting for an opportunity. He suddenly thrust his hand out, the ring gleaming brightly. "TEL MA... AMORIS!"

Now the Chaos Emeralds had their vacuum of death on Cygnus... imagine if that spell worked on everyone else. Which it did, much to the glee of that doctor. "Negi Springfield! Rebecca Miyamoto! Allow me to show you how the REAL Eggman does his business!" His sinister but stereotypical evil laughter echoed as all the others were drawn into the maddening darkness. "I do have to thank your partners' carelessness, otherwise I'd never believe how easy it was! So _MY_ POKEYMANS! LET ME SHOW YOU THEM!"

Too busy being scrambled by the mad doctor into some strange dimension, Negi only screamed in response. There appeared to be no stopping the real Eggman. Just how long will he remain undefeated?

* * *

Misora gazed into the dark portal, standing alone before it. She had cursed herself for losing that ring, oh, how Rei would kill her... To make matters worse, she felt like something terrible had just happened (which it did, ahehehehehe). "Dammit... if only I could do something!"

The portal suddenly decided to... contract.

And it delivered a massive gift... OF DARKNESS.

The girl's eyes shrank in horror before reality (or what of it exists) kicked back in, and she turned tail and ran for her life. She burst through another door and back into the room where everyone else was still waiting.

"Misora?" Akira blinked. "What's going on?"

"D-d-d-d-d...DARKNESS!" Misora stuttered, fear flooding her common sense a bit. "It's flooding everything! Everyone RUN!"

"Huh?" Kurumi blinked. "What are you..." She looked past Misora, and saw it. The creeping darkness was sliding towards all of them, and it was getting bigger. She shrieked, causing panic to spread amongst those still there. Kurumi ran away, and most everyone else followed suit.

Nodoka, however, still had the burning question. "What happened to Negi-sensei?!"

"I-I don't know!" Misora shot back. "He can't be—!"

Rei landed down from her perch, rubbing her forehead. Strangely enough she showed little outward signs of panic. "You idiots... it's the work of that doctor. He's finally here." She turned to the others. "Leave this to me!"

"B-b-but—!" Nodoka began.

"Nodoka-san, let's GO!" Kaede swooped back with ninja-like style, picking up the girl firmly before turning tail to catch up with everyone else who was fleeing.

"NEGI-SENSEI!" Nodoka cried, reaching out futilely.

"Misora-san!" Rei barked. "Save your own hide while you can!"

"Lawl no." Was the simple response.

"..." Rei stared mutely.

"This is all my fault..." Misora sunk at the thought, but with that truth out there. "I started this mess... well kind of. Let me clean it up! Or at least try to!"

Rei turned around, the smirk returning to her face. "You know Chao's probably gonna kill you, right?"

"Probably."

"And that this darkness is a one-way ticket. Only they can save us now."

"Yeah."

"Heheheheh, even so... you'd throw your life away to save the world?"

"Now would I?"

"The fact that you're still here says yes..." Rei struck a badass pose as the darkness swallowed them both, the expansion of the psychotic dimension drawing them into another world. Misora followed suit with the badass pose. I mean, might as well. "So let the real final chapters begin."

* * *

"Even now the fate of our dimension rests in the hands of teenagers," Dean Konoe stroked his beard, looking at the setting sun and unsettling dark air forming around Library Island. "Didn't that RPG cliché list teach them anything?! How come nobody OLD gets to save the universe?!" He sighed. "I guess it cannot be helped." He turned slightly to his two visitors. "I'm trusting you two can help Negi-kun solve this incident. Go." As soon as the words left his mouth, the mysterious duo disappeared in a blue streak. He went back to gazing at the sky, stroking his beard.

-?-&!

"Well my jolly readers! My plan has gone without a hitch, and it's high time that I get to take over the world! OOOHHOOHOOHOO! But first, I'm going to make you take the ultimate suffering and learn about the history of a certain doofus swan! Next time: 'Trembling with Hatred in the Game of Madness!' By Dr. 'Eggman' Robotnik! What's a 'Gensokyo'? You don't know?! _Get ready to be schooled_."

(This is one of the more heavily edited chapters, with the upcoming new episode being the other major change. But hang tight, it's almost over, and the awesome is reaching fever pitch! ENJOY THE SHOW! Concrit is still appreciated, ya know.)


	11. Trembling With Hatred in the Game

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Episode 10: "Trembling with Hatred in the Game of Madness!" by Dr. Robotnik**

(A/N Additional Disclaimer: Yui is my character, but Utsuho, the phoenix lady and Windia are not. I hope ZUN and the dudes at CAVE forgive meee...)

That old feeling... something he hadn't felt in a long time. He almost forgot what it was called. As he rose, however, he finally recalled that word!

It was regret.

When he let those pipsqueaks seal him away so he could go home, he forgot to mention something—he'd be closing off their universe from his affluence. Them sealing him was but a parlor trick to make sure they'd get back safely while he'd seal off his world from theirs. He'd never see them again.

That meant he'd never see Rokugou again.

The mere thought was eroding his sanity on the subject... so why wasn't he insane yet?

His mind drifted back to the events over the past four days—crawling about dimensions, being found by Eggman, running away into Negi's world, his subsequent fights with the child teachers... yet all of that felt like a dream, to borrow that silly cliché. "Huh... talk about a lucid dream..." He rose out of bed and began walking towards the outside—wait a second. Something's wrong. Very wrong.

It all began with the strange person he saw in the room.

A sinister but beautiful presence, she wore a smooth black kimono, matching her long hair. Almost completely black eyes regarded Cygnus. "Long time, no see." His eyes caught a few spiders scuttling on her dress, but it seemed like she'd rather have it that way.

Cygnus knew this woman. The fact that she was here... oh _hell naw_.

"Yui," The boy said, a slightly nervous snarl. "The fact that you're here so easily disturbs me... please don't tell me—"

"Why don't you look outside?" Yui suggested.

Cygnus was bursting out of the room and towards the nearest window before she even completed the sentence.

Looking outside, he saw not a hazy darkness but a clear night sky. The castle he summoned, the beautiful yet dark architecture, was standing tall within a massive bamboo forest. He then looked down and confirmed his worst fear—the castle was sticking out of HIS dimension and in THIS one. "...dammit." He then remembered what dimension this place was poking into, and irritation became fear and panic. "Dammit_dammit_DAMMIT**DAMMIT**!"

"This place is becoming quite the bird's nest, if I could say so myself," Yui smiled that chilling smile. "Why, on my way here, I already had to tie up at least three crow tengu—"

"Oi, don't tempt me with your bondage hentai fantasies right now!" Cygnus hissed. "I probably have all of two hours before some high and mighty female decides to _rearrange me_. I am repairing this shit _now_."

"And here I thought Gensokyo was a friendly place..." Yui sighed dramatically. "Ah well. Perhaps you should go speak to the hell raven and see if she'll help you out."

"Why her? Wait, what the hell is _she_ doing here?!"

"She said she wandered in because she was looking for new things to eat, and wanted to invite you over. Though, knowing her, she's probably about to dine without you anyway. She happened upon a blue-haired girl..."

"WAIT, SHE'S GOING TO FREAKING _EAT_ SMALLBOSS!? _THAT IDIOT_!" Cygnus took a moment and locked on to that familiar signature before tearing out like a bat out of hell deeper into the castle.

Yui giggled. That swan fool hadn't changed a bit since she first met him... "Well, if you were polite and finished listening to what I had to say, you would learn that it was _not_ in fact, a certain kappa you feel indebted to..."

* * *

Last time, Negi and his friends had been around the outside of this castle. The inside, however, was just as grand and dark as Cygnus himself.

The walls were made of something resembling black marble, through streaks of white were inside to keep it from being completely dark. Eerie white lights lit the hallways, if only barely, though bigger rooms had much better lighting.

Tearing through the dark hallways towards the dining hall, Cygnus grit his teeth. So far, he had kept his existence secret from most of this neighboring dimension he called home. However, this was a large scale deal—the race of bird-like youkai known as Tengu lived in the huge mountain nearby were the ones who maintained it. They only kept his secret and didn't bother him so long as he kept his affairs outside of this land called Gensokyo and occasionally brought technology from other worlds. This castle poking out between dimensions would be seen as a breach of contract.

Chaos knows what would happen if the Tengu saw him as a threat again. Senseless violence, no fun, and probably assassination at the hands of the Protectors of the Plot Continuum.

Shivering at that thought, Cygnus simply gained speed. Once he saw himself at a staircase, instead of descending down them normally, he simply sailed into the air with a mighty leap and smashed down at the bottom.

"Halt!" Somebody shouted.

Cygnus didn't have to guess who that was. Turning to his left, he saw a tengu officer.

Something about this one was different. Most tengu had black hair and resembled crows—this one had short white hair, and was much more akin to a wolf. However, despite what most people would believe, their faces and body structures were very much human, save a few animal-like features. She unsheathed a thick, curved blade and point it at him. "What are you plotting?! Your castle is in clear view from the top of the mountain!"

"I _know_," Cygnus growled. "That's why I'm trying to _fix_ it."

"Seriously?" The woman was still weary.

"Damn _straight_! But right now somebody I care about is _about to be eaten_, so you'll excuse me if I'm dashing off to and fro!" The demonic swan began to speed off again. However, surprised that the tengu made no effort to stop him, he turned around to offer some advice as thanks. "Oh, and watch out for the spider lady! She's already tied up three of your subordinates!" And with that, Cygnus sped off, leaving the white wolf tengu to groan in frustration and head the opposite direction to report to her superiors.

* * *

Ah... dinner. The grand meal of the day.

And to a certain Utsuho Reiuji, man, did she need it.

She had journeyed to this castle after catching wind of Cygnus's familiar scent... but alas, upon getting here, she realized she was not only hungry but devoid of any good powers—the last time she ate something and became awesome was that time with that one sun crow...

It was with great luck that a young blue-haired girl almost literally dropped into her lap. She looked quite dead (she didn't know how to check for a pulse anyway.), so what would be the harm in eating her?

She took a moment to flap the massive wings on her back. Slowly, she sat down, adjusting her green skirt, pawing her dark-brown hair and fixing the green bow, and checking her shirt before making an exaggerated praying gesture.

"Thank you for the food!" She shouted grandly. Twirling a fork she pulled out of nowhere, she prepared to stab into the succulent dinner.

POW, RIGHT IN THE KISSER!

The girl toppled backwards before falling on the ground in pain.

Cygnus stood on the table, cradling the girl with one hand and holding the Fist of Judgment(tm) with his other. "Oi! Don't go eating Smallboss! Didn't even bother checking for a pulse, did you?!" He of course, felt for one and found it. Thank chaos, still alive. Although for being Smallboss, she was rather tall and seemed rather dashing in a school outfit...

Wait a damn second. "ROKUGOU?!"

Utsuho didn't take this well. She flipped back up onto her feet and pointed angrily at Cygnus with tears threatening to invade her eyes. "That hurt, you jerkass! And I was planning to share, too!""

"O RLY?" Cygnus hissed venomously. "I don't share _living things_ to eat."

"Since you decided to be so greedy, I'll eat _you_ instead," The hell raven unfastened something at her neck, and a massive cape draped itself behind her wings. The inside shone of the stars, the outside was a solid white. "Right after I blow both of you to kingdom come!"

"Ha, says the person who lost nuclear power!" Cygnus countered, setting Rokugou in a corner before coming back to meet her challenge. "You won't be touching Rokugou!"

Utsuho took to the air with just one flap of her wings and dived after Cygnus. Whipping about, she simply sliced her wings in his direction, nearly wrecking the floors in the process. Cygnus expertly twirled, evading the move before retaliating with a wave of darkness.

"Geh," Utsuho jumped over the first wave, then spread her wings and glided under a second wave. She slammed her hands on the ground and sprung upwards, sailing into a drop kick that smacked Cygnus downward.

Barely saving himself from bashing his head on the floor, Cygnus crawled backwards a bit before dodging another wing slash. He jumped up, over yet another wing slash, and landed down, raising his hand. At once, the immediate area around him darkened. "Drown in terror, hellish raven!" Darkness flowed through the room.

Utsuho suddenly felt fairly weak. That devilish aura was sapping her strength! Making her...

Her stomach rumbled, demanding sacrifice.

"Hungryyy...!" She complained. Instead of pressing a direct attack, Utsuho flew backwards and steadied herself. Holding up her left finger, she summoned a dark orb. The remnants of a power she once had... "Subterranean Moon..."

With the room still dark from Cygnus's attack, a weak and pale light gathered at the hell raven's fingertip. It began to draw in the darkness—and Cygnus with it! The boy strained to hold his ground at first, but instead decided to go with the flow—at three times the speed. He zoomed in to strike...

...and found himself avoiding her jaws instead. "Huh HEY WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Hungrrryyyy!" Utsuho bellowed. Seeing her trick fail, she immediately launched herself towards him. Her earlier anger forgotten, Ustuho tried to grab a body part so she could chomp down. Cygnus would have none of this and scrambled for safety.

Nope, that wasn't gonna work. Utsuho managed to finally catch his right arm.

"C'mon, just let me eeeaaatt!" Utsuho bit down on the dark boy's hand, savoring the taste and wiggling her butt suggestively.

If her previous actions didn't drive Cygnus crazy, this one certainly did. Trying futilely to shake her off, the boy simply yelled, "GODDAMMIT ALRIGHT FINE I'LL FIX YOU SOMETHING JUST STOP EATING ME AND DON'T EAT ROKUGOU!"

"Okay!"

* * *

"Man, you make really good yakitori!" The hell raven happily munched on kebab after kebab as Cygnus slowly and irritatedly munched on one of his own, cradling the still unconscious Rokugou in his lap.

"I didn't make it. Found it conveniently on one of the lower rooftops," Cygnus muttered. He took a moment to savor the taste. "It's a nostalgic taste, actually. It reminds me of somebody I met once before."

"O RLY?" Utsuho tilted her head. "Who?"

"Only seen her once," Cygnus muttered. "Don't even know her name. I went dimension hopping one day, came across an unusual rift and BAM, some ass jerks were trying to kill some girl for drinking a potion. I had fun reducing those fools to delusional puddles, but by the time I found that girl again, she had gone batshit insane with fire powers. I picked a fight with her to calm her down. Said she wanted a rematch. Never saw her again."

"Why not? I mean, even if your ability to hop dimensions is random, you were always able to find this place and Gensokyo, right?"

"Hmph, as far as being a demon goes, I'm still a goddamn toddler, I don't understand the full extent of my powers yet," Cygnus answered.

Before he could elaborate any further, Rokugou stirred. It was such a shocking sensation that Cygnus flinched. Even so, suddenly noticing the warmth was such a shocking sensation he could only sit still. Utsuho noticed as well, though by notice we mean 'slow down eating and raise an eyebrow'.

"Nnnn..." Rokugou slowly opened her eyes. "Cygnus...kun?"

"Nice to see that you're alive," Cygnus answered softly. "Any clue on how you got here?"

"Don't... know." Rokugou stared at him, her innocent eyes confused.

_So moe, I'm gonna die,_ Cygnus thought in those exact words... I swear! "If you're here, then that means something could've gone wrong..."

Utsuho actually took notice this time. No wonder Cygnus was so angry that she tried to eat her. "Oh, she was supposed to be a guest of yours?" She raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"I don't see what you're doing here." Cygnus regarded her wearily, and Rokugou continued to look puzzled.

"I'm not doing anything!" The hell raven held up her hands. "But apparently you're quite close to that girl. How do you think the other resident of this castle is gonna take it?"

"Other resident?" Cygnus raised his eyebrow.

The world stopped as everyone in the room heard a quiet yet impertinent flap of wings. "What's the meaning of this, leaving me out of the fun, guv'na?" Wait... that accent! That isn't...

"Aw hell naw..." Knowing what was coming next, he grabbed Rokugou tightly and dived to the side as a lightning quick blade of wind shot through, tearing up the chair he was sitting in just moments before. It also decimated the table and nearly all of Utsuho's food. The hell raven merely blocked the attack with just one wing. Once the initial clatter had stopped, Cygnus let go of Rokugou, hissed, and turned around. "The hell is wrong with you?!"

The girl he saw bore a sort of childish elegance. She was dressed in pure gothic lolita white, with matching white wings and red hair. In her right hand she bore a feather resembling a sword, or a sword resembling a feather, can't tell which. Her voice was rough, yet quiet. "Figures you'd go off dimension hopping and bring yourself a new girlfriend, while I'm stuck here fighting off tengu! You never take me _anywhere_!"

"Cygnus-kun, who's this?" Rokugou stepped back nervously. Unless Cyg decided to power her up, she was nigh useless in this situation.

"A girl who gives me bad press," Cygnus muttered back. "...kind of like a little sister."

"My name is Windia," The girl asserts. "I'm feeling restless, can we play?"

"If 'play' equates to 'chopping me up', then no," Cygnus sternly answered. "Besides, I have _issues_ I have to deal with."

"I'll take that as a game of tag, then," Windia smiled, gripping her sword tightly.

"Cygnus-kun, does this mean we have to fight?" Rokugou blinked, examining the foe in front of them.

The bedeviled swan could hear the concerned shouts of the tengu. "No time, they're getting restless." He scooped up Rokugou. "I think I can find the problem from the top of the castle. Sorry I have to do this again!" He turned tail and practically crashed right out of a window, flying into the night. Windia giggled and sprinted off to give chase.

Utsuho lifted a finger. "Whoa, are you sure you want to fly off in that direction? The—"

POW RIGHT IN THE KISSER!

Windia ushered a silent apology to Utsuho for using her face as a stepping stone before pursuing Cygnus further.

* * *

The swan took to the upper quarters, fading into a shadow of a swan with Rokugou tucked safely inside. He swerved and picked up the pace as he saw the pale owl girl catch up. "Stay still, won't you?" She shouted, twirling about and slicing with her sword. Terrible winds tore at the walls in an effort to strike down Cygnus.

Cygnus paid this no attention, instead simply pouring on the speed. He came across a long hallway, adorned with armored knights carrying axes. In an attempt to slow down his pursuer, Cygnus shot off bits of his power into each without dropping speed, and simply shot off into the other end.

When Windia approached, the axes fell. The girl leapt to the side to dodge the blows, but it slowed her down far too much! Irritated, she swung her sword again, and powerful winds knocked the armors down. "Not bad, but you know that can't stop me, right?" She sped up again and rounded the corner.

Cygnus shot up a winding staircase, knocking down sections of the wall to slow down the persistent owl youkai, only for her to easily counter with one wind attack after another. His distractions not working, the swan opted for another route. He suddenly shot left and broke through a window, landing on a nearby roof. Windia kept in pursuit, slashing at him and giggling all the way.

The Bedeviled Swan King suddenly leapt out of his shadow, using another long jump to propel himself over to another rooftop. That still didn't stop Windia, who merely kept up through flight. "Goddammit, stop chasing me!" Cygnus shouted back.

"Not until you play!" The girl retorted, attacking him again.

"Guuuggh!" Cygnus yelled. "Hold tight, Rokugou!" He took one final leap, crashing into yet another window and racking up a massive repair bill. By the time he landed, he was now in the topmost tower. Seeing as there was nowhere else to run, he set Rokugou down as the owl youkai flew in.

"Hmph, nowhere to run, I take it?" Windia said.

"Seriously, we don't have time to play..." Cygnus growled, trying to reason with her. "Did you _look outside_?"

"Yes I did. Your powers are out of control so the Tengu think you're up to no good. You're up to something and I want in."

How somebody could be so observant and yet so... oblivious riled the boy. "Yes! I mean NO! I mean it's more complicated than that! Even if this _was_ entirely my doing, there's no way anything would go the way I'd like it! You know what kind of madness would happen if I leave those rifts open?!"

"Nope."

Cygnus procured an extremely thick fake cigar and bit down on it for effect. "_CROSSOVERS_, EVERYBODY! _CROSSOVERS_! THE CROSSOVERS ARE SPREADING!"

"C-Crossovers?" Rokugou still had her face contorted in confusion. "What's wrong with that?"

"Would you like demon overlords waltzing in your territory and taking over your planet? Or how about Dark Schneider and Gurren Lagann teaming up and being NIGH FREAKING UNSTOPPABLE?! You wouldn't be able to mash the 'F' key fast enough!" When Rokugou and Windia shook their heads violently, Cygnus concluded. "If I don't find who or what's causing my powers to stick out, those things can very much happen. Not just to me, but to Rokugou too! So please, _let me stop this_."

Windia stopped. The pale girl hung her head low, her face unreadable.

"One year."

"What?"

"One year. That's how long you've been gone from this place," Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I've been alone for most that time—if it weren't for that other bird brain..." She began to sniffle. "And to think you've changed since then... I'd thought I'd never see a jerk like you again!" She wailed—tears of happiness.

Rokugou blinked in complete confusion. Cygnus, on the other hand, just growled in frustration. "Goddammit you good guys drive me nuts..." With that, he turned around and swung open the door, ready to stomp off. Rokugou stared at Windia for a moment, until the owl youkai stopped her tears of joy and waved her off. The blue-haired girl then scampered off after Cygnus, as he traveled up the stairs.

* * *

"Rokugou... let me tell you a story," Cygnus began, his tone somber.

"A story?" Rokugou looked at him curiously.

"It's a story I long should've told you," Cygnus gave a soft grin as they slowly ascended the tower. "It wasn't all that long ago... perhaps maybe thirty years. There was a swan... a mighty and powerful swan. But alas, all he knew was hatred and madness. He never even knew why those things drove him... they just did. He relished it."

"To tell the truth, that sounds horrible," Rokugou added softly and sadly, looking out at the castle grounds.

"What did you expect? Frolicking in the meadows until I hit the tragic past part?" Cygnus countered, although it seemed more like a joke than any sort of anger. The girl shied away, her face hidden. Cygnus softened again. "You look just like when I first met you... scared out of your mind. Can't blame you. I'm a man of darkness, in more ways than one."

"No, it's not that. I can't put my finger on it, though..."

"Hmph..." Cygnus continued up the stairs. When he heard Rokugou follow him, he continued. "Supposedly, someone tried to put an end to its rampaging with a weapon of divine light. It was quite effective at wounding him, but all it did in the long run was change his targets. With his abilities to wander about the world as he pleased, that monstrous swan brought terrible ruin to those with evil hearts.

"It was one day when the swan discovered an ability to traverse dimensions. With this new ability, he traveled to other worlds, continuing to act as a dark disaster to whatever caught his interest. Eventually, he came across a land called Gensokyo."

"Gensokyo?" Rokugou asked.

"The land this castle is poking into."

The girl gasped on wonder.

"Karma was not kind to the swan here. His unchecked rampaging attracted the attention of a native race of youkai known as the Tengu. Led by their chief Lord Tenma, they fought the swan with superior numbers and strategy, and he was soundly defeated. The swan fell into a river and drifted down the mountain, only coming to a stop when he met a certain blue-haired girl.

"This girl was a bit different than you—back then she was a shy and pitiful creature, as many female kappas were. Only bearing the tiniest piece of darkness, she was of no interest to the fallen swan. But this girl was interested in him. She nursed him back to health, and showed him a kindness he had never seen before. The swan, confused by this matter, continued to stay by her side as she showed her fascination for technology and science. For a while, life was good."

"But alas, this was not to last. The Tengu were regular friends with most of the kappa, so naturally they would be paying a visit. AND GUESS WHO THEY JUST RAN INTO! The Tengu wondered why their kappa friend had harbored such a dangerous beast and nearly turned on her as well, but the swan would not have it. To defend his only supposed friend, the swan returned the tengu's rage twofold. Even when Lord Tenma returned, the swan would not give up. Before the battle could escalate past a burning point, the kappa girl stopped the swan. The kappa blamed herself, believing this swan could do good.

"That sign of love was so powerful, the swan found he was no longer a pure beast. The humanity deep in his heart was strong enough to reemerge. Everyone was shocked to see a human youkai appear. The swan boy could finally voice himself, and declared that he would protect that kappa to the end of his days. The violence came to an end, and the Tengu set a deal—don't bother them and assist the kappa in her studies, and you get to walk free. Naturally, it was a deal the swan boy could not refuse.

"That kappa is the only other person I've met who's immune to that hateful aura of mine." Cygnus concluded. By now, they reached the end of the staircase and with it, the top peak of the castle. "Even those I've met, the few people I could call friends, aren't immune to my aura. The powerful darkness I wielded makes those Tengu batshit insane. But I could never figure out why. I revel in what I do, no regrets... but still, _why_?!"

"Cygnus..." Rokugou stared at him, sadness and concern over her features.

"I wonder why I have humanity if, as a demon, I am already damned," He turned to Rokugou, a rueful smile on his face. "Back when I was just a monster, things were simple. This guilt, being less than perfect, drives me crazy."

"Cygnus-kun!" Rokugou grew ten times manlier that moment. She balled her fist and smacked that boy with a mighty uppercut. Cygnus fell over on his back, more from shock than pain. The girl then took the opportunity to immediately jump on his chest, hands pressed to the ground, eyes locked on his. "Don't talk like that! I don't want to hear it!" She softened slightly. "If you're confused about your emotions, that's a good thing! It proves... it proves you still have humanity in you! That's why you're still here, right? I won't let you go, no matter how evil you get!" Those words hit like a ton of bricks. Even as she sank down to a hug and sobbed on his shoulder, Cygnus's mind went on overdrive. Even throughout his darkness, his selfishness, and his insanity, here was a girl trying to heal his heart. But then again, his master surprised him the same way...

He slowly rose, still holding on to Rokugou. From his viewpoint atop the grand castle, he could see it—pretty far away, but visible... that tear in the darkness, it's amazing power...

...and that familiar scent! "Curse that Doctor Eggman! It was his doing after all!"

"Eggman?" Rokugou stepped beside him, wiping her eyes to get a better look.

"Yes, that sniveling bastard must've gotten the jump on all of you..." Cygnus looked onward. Something however, stopped him. "Huh?"

Rather I should say _someone_ stopped him. Not directly, no way. She was just standing there, gazing at the sky in the same fashion he was. She had long, flowing silverish-blue hair that fell past her waist. She wore a white long sleeved shirt, suspenders and baggy pants. Red seals were all over her pants, and a bow atop her head seemed to have that same seal as well. The mysterious woman sighed. "Just when I was about to make a yakitori stand..." She turned around to face them, gazing at them with red eyes. She didn't look a day over 17. "...you bring chaos into our world."

Rokugou blinked.

Cygnus recognized her. "You..." Images of flames and madness danced in his mind. And yet another familiar scent. That meant that the yakitori he and Utsuho had earlier was—"Ay, _shit_."

The girl's mouth upturned slightly at this. "So you _do_ remember me! I'm so FLATTERED!" Suddenly, there was fire. And lots of it. Fire surrounded Cygnus and Rokugou, barring their escape. Fire flared, nearly blocking out their view of the sky. And suddenly, the woman in question sprouted six fiery wings, flapping magnificently and dangerously. "But you're TOO LATE! About 1200 years too late to be precise!"

"TWELVE HUNDRED YEARS?!" Cygnus bounced back in shock. "Wait... then I can time jump?! No, that must've been a fluke..." He examined the girl—no, woman again. "You... you don't look a day older than back then!"

"Duh..." The woman smirked. "I'm immortal. Back then I had just gained my powers. So!" She hovered, those dangerous wings flapping behind her. "You owe me a rematch, swan boy! Especially since you decided to eat my well-prepared food _without paying_! For someone who still remembers me, surely you could bring out that strength I remember seeing!"

Cygnus grit his teeth. Extra boss time!

Rokugou stepped beside him. "Cygnus-kun!"

Cygnus gave a soft sort of smirk. Summoning his powers, he chanted, "Partner: Sayaka Suzuki! Show me the power within you!" He summoned the orb that held the card he needed. Reaching in, he grasped the card. Rokugou felt the almighty pin prick again. "Contract... activate!"

A puff of smoke.

Rokugou got her SUKA CARD!

"Sorry Rokugou... this is a fight between me and her... just like the old days," Cygnus gave an apologetic smile to Rokugou the chibi-swan. He randomly produced two pom-poms. "You can cheer me on if you want!"

The tiny swan girl flew over to some safe corner, pom-poms in hand. Only now did Cygnus see the cuteness of the girl. "SO MOE I'm GONNA DIE!" Yes, he actually said that out loud.

"PAY ATTENTION!" The fiery girl demanded, setting Cygnus's ass on fire as punishment.

"GYYYAAAA!" Cygnus ran around like a headless chicken, screaming his head off. It was a few moments before he stopped, dropped, and rolled, putting out the flames. Once sane again, Cygnus stood up. "Huh. So that's how it is." He lifted his right hand. "COME GUARDIAN!"

His swan familiar, no longer adding to his nightmarish transmutations, was at his side again. Cygnus crouched, leering at the girl before him. "Swan versus phoenix."

"Shall we finally dance?" The woman answered.

Those wings flared, and the battle began. The crazy woman merely gathered fire, yelling as she flared in a hellish aura like the sun itself. Cygnus staggered back from the heat, and a near psychotic stream of fiery bullets shot towards Cygnus. He summoned his guardian to absorb the blows, although the hot flames forced the swan to strain a bit. When the assault died down just enough, Cygnus slid under his cover, skating past the bullets and right into the phoenix woman's face. He smashed into her with the force of dark magic.

Too bad for him, she blocked his full-force punch. With a grin, I might add. "BURN, BABY!" The phoenix woman bellowed. She pressed her hand to the ground, and the whole floor became burning hot—literally. Cygnus had to hotfoot it while he dodged even more vicious blasts from the girl.

"Geez, I can't stay close!" Cygnus complained, the sweltering heat adding up.

"DEEP FRY." The girl bellowed. A plume of flames shot towards him, and Cygnus jumped to the left, skating through the immense heat as flames dance around him. The sight was beautiful; the flames were doing the Macarena! "GET ON WITH IT!" Oh, come ON!

"WHY DON'T YOU TASTE DARKNESS THEN?!" Cygnus bellowed. He aimed an arm drawing darkness into it with increasing power. "ARM CANNON!" A highly concentrated blast of darkness smashed straight into the girl of fire. By the time she recovered, she was right next to her own wall of fire, and Cygnus was already skating towards her at max speed, a crude sword of darkness forming. He performed a series of speedy swings at the girl, who blocked and ran along the wall in defense. With his assault over, she realized they were both hovering in the middle of the area...

Cygnus put an end to that Matrix-wannabe scene with one press of the triangle button (read: he slammed her into the ground.).

Light burst from the ground, removing the painful flamed floor. The flames surrounding them however, raged on.

The phoenix woman recovered, shakily standing back on her feet before Cygnus was in her face, smashing her with several fierce blows with that pseudo-sword. Cygnus added a final smash that sent her skidding across the ground. "Ha!" He gloated. "How's that?!"

"Not bad," She smirked. She swept him with one kick and them smashed him away with another. "Not bad at all."

"CURSE YOU!" Cygnus sailed on his back for some distance before flipping back on his feet, sliding to a stop. He flipped over a random burst of fire, then landed to see that she was up to something else. "Ah...!"

"Everlasting—Phoenix's Tail!" The girl swept a hand across, and all Cygnus could see for the next ten seconds was fireballs. Thousands of them. Cygnus had no tiny hit box to evade being burned, so if this actually was a curtain fire shooter, he'd be toast by now. Even so, some of the flames nicked his skin.

"COME GUARDIAN!" Cygnus's guardian once again took the front stand, blocking the insane flames from reaching the boy's body. The fireballs died out, and the swan guardian flew behind its master. "How about you taste my ultimate madness!" Cygnus threw both of his hands back, and the swan guardian extended its wings. Its magnificent wingspan was enough to intimidate the surliest of foes. He sailed to the air, aiming at the phoenix woman.

"BRING IT THEN!" The woman laughed, rising to the swan's challenge and clearly enjoying the fight. "TONIGHT WE _DINE_ IN _HELL_!"

"LET ME BE THE FIRST TO WELCOME YOU! SWAN CANNON!" Cygnus countered, opening his mouth wide.

"HOURAI DOLL!"

"YYYYYAAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!"

"YYYEEEEAAAAAUUUUGGGHH!"

"YAAAHHHHHHHH!" Rokugou joined in on the Dragonball Z-esque screaming as the two powerful attacks collided in a brilliant flash of fire and darkness.

The battle ended with the sound of haughty laughter.

The tired combatants fell to the ground. Looking wearily towards the still burning fire, they saw the amused face of the spider woman, Yui. Rokugou, still in her tiny form, popped up from behind her. "What a truly interesting and barbaric fight indeed!" Yui crowed. "But do you really have time to be doing this, swan boy?"

Cygnus took a quick look at the space tear in the background before facing her. "Of course I don't! But everyone keeps bothering me!"

"I can only entertain the Tengu and your minions for so long," Yui added. She glanced over the side of the castle rooftop, hearing many cries of "BONDAGE HENTAI!" and "LET ME GO!" She laughed. "Perhaps it's time you resolved this incident before any shrine maiden catches wind of it."

"I bet this is because that damned Negi Springfield screwed up," Cygnus muttered. "But I don't like cleaning up the mess of good guys. And yet..." He looked over to Rokugou, who peered shyly at him. "I owe somebody. I'll save those heroes... just this once. Hey... Sayaka Suzuki!"

"Eep!" Rokugou jumped out from behind Yui and 'flew' over to Cygnus.

"Let's go rescue your dumbass friends." Cygnus gave her a grin.

She smiled. Scooping her up, Cygnus arched himself before jumping up into the night sky and flying towards the other tear in space.

"Hey you! Wait for me!" The phoenix woman bellowed, flaring up with power before flying off in pursuit.

Yui simply looked on in amusement as the red and black streaks faded from the sky.

"He better come back," that owl youkai Windia emerged from the castle, followed by Utsuho. "...and he better treat his girlfriend right, too!"

Utsuho sighed, holding her stomach. "That phoenix woman's gonna come back and make more yakitori righ—"

POW, RIGHT IN THE KISSER!

* * *

"Ah, what a shame, he actually showed up just like I predicted..."

"No helping from that... but this time he's gone over the top!"

"Who knows what kind of powers he'll unlock in that dimension. But we can still stop him if we get to Negi-sensei first!"

"Count on me! If fast thinking is of the essence, I'm the essence of fast thinking! Oh hey guys! We're kinda busy, since Eggman's opened up a portal to a whole new dimension and dragged some of our friends with him! We're gonna put an end to it! Next time: 'So, You Want a Revolution?' by Sonic. Don't stop now, come on and rock and roll!"

(That's it for the bonus episode (or the split episode that gets more new content. HOORAY FOR CROSSOVERS!  
"But Ansem, why are you crossing over even more obscure series?"  
Because it's fun, duh! Also gives them exposure. But considering that Windia's source game (deathsmiles) will never see the light of day in the US unless that X360 port is region free and her character conflicts with what the Japanese site says, I hope you'll forgive me for being a bit liberal in my interpretation. Stay tuned for the last numbered episode in Act I!

Thanks to DarkDragonDave for looking this story over for me.)


	12. So, You Want a Revolution?

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**Episode 11: "So, You Want a Revolution?" by Sonic**

"Hey... wake up!"

Negi faintly registered something sounding like those words, and began to stir awake. He strangely felt grass as he opened up his eyes and found himself staring at a country landscape. The air was fresh, the mountains in the distance looked pristine and beautiful, although somewhat shrouded in fog. Well, it'd look a whole lot better if it wasn't for the obnoxious portal of darkness hanging above it. He definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore, let alone Mahora.

"Eggman really threw you in for a loop! Glad that you're okay!" Negi turned around to see a shockingly familiar face. The blue hedgehog grinning at him offered him a hand to stand up.

"The blue hedgehog... Misora-san again?" Negi asked as the figure helped him up.

"Need better glasses, kid, you got the wrong number!" The figure wagged a finger. "I'm the real Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog!" He turned to look at the portal. "Eggman's actually still hanging out in that dark dimension between this one and yours. I just dragged you out here."

"Eggman..." Negi's memories flashed back to that attack the man launched on them. "Right after we sealed Cygnus away, he showed up with that ring..."

"Kasuga-san lost it at that base," Another voice piped up. "Quite the setback, but at the same time it's not something impossible to work around, ne?" If Sonic was a surprise, this second person was doubly so. Negi found himself staring at a cute girl in a Chinese outfit, her hair braided in double buns. "Hello, Negi-sensei!"

This girl was one of his students. Chao Lingshen.

"Lingshen-san?!" Negi blinked, completely taken aback by her appearance. "You... you've known about magic?"

"Yep!" Chao bowed. "I've known about it for a long time now, probably before you even came to school here. Matter of fact I developed that ring Misora used! Rei was a great help in letting me keep tabs on you."

"Is that... so?" Negi said, dumbfounded. He shook this off, however, and thought about something. "So I take it you knew a bit about this situation beforehand."

"Yeah, story is Egghead made off with the Chaos Emeralds back on my planet." Sonic explained. "That's all sorts of bad news right there, but I tailed him to pick a fight before he got any bright had a huge fight, while the Chaos Emeralds reacted to someone..."

"Cygnus." Negi concluded.

"Right. He decided to make the situation more 'amusing' in his standards by stealing the Chaos Emeralds within his shadow magic. I couldn't tail him through his dimensional warp, but that shadow of mine latched onto Misora."

"Sonic worked with me until we could join up and clean up this mess," Chao finished. "And we told the Dean too."

"So Becky and her students being here was your doing too?" Negi asked. Wow, it almost seemed like Chao wrote this whole story! But she didn't, so let's move on please.

Chao smiled conspiratorially. "Even the good guys need a mastermind every now and then!"

"Huh," Negi turned to the giant rift. The sky seemed to be even more bleak as they stood there. "...one thing remains... where is everyone else? And where are the Chaos Emeralds?"

"We step into the darkness..." Chao answered, producing the white Chaos Emerald.

"...And find everyone else!" Sonic said, whipping out the blue Chaos Emerald.

While Negi was relieved to see that Chao and Sonic had them, confusion marked his face. "Didn't Eggman use the Chaos Emeralds to put us in this state?" Negi asked. "So why would he abandon them, especially since they're still working fine?"

"Who knows?" Sonic shrugged. "His knack of underestimating foes is one of his greatest weaknesses. I have fun exploiting it every time!"

Negi continued gazing at that darkness. He twirled his staff, struck a shounen badass pose (tm), and said, poetically I might add, "They're waiting for us... everyone, back at home. Let's meet them there, no matter what."

"You said it!" Sonic cheered. He and Negi streaked off towards the impossible darkness ahead of them, with a Chaos Emerald-powered Chao behind them.

--

"Geez! What the hell?!" Sonic complained as he narrowly evaded a fierce red blast.

There were fairies. Thousands of them. And they launched nightmarishly huge colorful bullets at our heroes in psychotic fashion. While most people would marvel at the pretty patterns, Negi, Sonic, and Chao were not interested in dying.

"I hope you have a tiny hitbox!" Chao said, summoning several orbs of electric magic and firing them like mad to take down said fairies.

"Tell me about it!" Negi strained, dodging the chaotic fire of the powerful and strange fairies that assaulted them at the edge of the border between this one and the dark dimension. "What is this place?"

"Negi!" A familiar voice called out.

"Asuna-san!" Negi recognized that voice immediately.

"A little help here!" Asuna was in armor form, and while she was having major success in surviving and defending, her offense was not helping her out of her situation. Try as she might, her sword could only deflect the massive bullets aimed at her.

"TEL MA... AMORIS!" Negi helped her out of that situation immediately. Aiming a finger, he fired a thin but devastating beam at the row of fairies harassing Asuna, defeating them instantly.

A welcome silence finally greeted out heroes, and there were (temporarily) no longer any fairies trying to shoot them with curtain fire. Asuna immediately dashed over to Negi. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah!" Negi smiled. "I have Sonic-san and Lingshen-san looking out for me. Asuna-san, do you have a Chaos Emerald with you?"

The girl smiled, producing the red Chaos Emerald from her hand. However, she turned to face Sonic. "It's... it's the chupacabra! For real this time!"

"Don't start that business again, lady!" Sonic shot back. "I'm a hedgehog!"

"Let's keep moving, please!" Chao nearly pleaded.

--

"I should've figured that Eggman brat would interrupt the happy ending," Evangeline crossed her arms, gazing at the unsettling sky from her cottage. "Hmph. That boy better be taking care of himself." She sighed. This was getting worrying. For the love of chaos, she actually broke apart a model ship and _rebuilt it completely_ in the span of the five hours she had been waiting since she left the library.

"Master..." Chachamaru appeared at her side again. "You appear to be worried again."

"I AM NOT _WORRIED_!" The hot-headed vampire girl shouted. She crossed her arms and faced away from her robot servant. "I'm just concerned that bouya's taking too long."

Chachamaru sat down, the whir of her mechanical insides hissing ever so slightly as she did so. "Master, I'm worried too."

Eva grit her teeth but said nothing. Maybe she WAS getting worried. Damn, now she's getting way too soft...

Mmmm... soft...

-SMACK- "GET ON WITH IT!"

The narrator apologizes profusely for that comment, he is writing this at one a.m.

"Master..." Chachamaru's sensors felt something. "We have visitors."

"Huh?" Evangeline raised an eyebrow. The door burst open, revealing the remaining students, led by a panicked Nodoka.

"Eva-san!" Nodoka cried. "N-Negi-sensei! Negi-sensei has—!"

"I know, _I know_," Eva snapped, trying to calm the girl down.

"The darkness, it's spreading throughout Library Island!" Kurumi whined. "At this rate—!"

"I know."

"I'm making some kind of obvious revelation because I finally have a speaking line, but nobody cares!" Mesousa whined.

"I KNOW."

"Your epidermis is showing," Motsu pointed out. "In a good way."

"I KNOW—wait,what?!" Evangeline did a double-take at the frog who was amongst the group. Everyone else for some reason got much louder, and this drove the vampire girl to her bitter and bratty rage. "WHY DON'T YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP?!" With stunned silence finally at her beck and call, Evangeline calmed down. Somewhat, anyway.

"Now that I can actually talk, maybe one of you can tell me why are all of you in my house."

"Negi-sensei told us to find you..." Fuuka began.

"...if things went wrong." Fumika added.

"And things went wrong. Way wrong..." Miyako finished. "But... why he sent us to you kinda baffles us."

The small vampire could only smirk at this. Negi trusted her enough to lead his class... how cute. "You should have a bit more faith in Negi-bouya," She gave a devious grin. At once, she curled her hand, and a glowing sphere popped into existence above it, causing those close by to jump in shock. As far as they knew, they weren't aware of Eva's magic prowess. "The boy is alive. Very much so."

"H-how...?" Kurumi stuttered.

"Master is a vampire," Chachamaru explained simply. That simple explanation was like a haymaker to everyone's brain though.

"V-v-vampire?!" Miyako reeled back in horror.

"Wait a second..." Nodoka's brain went into overdrive. "...that vampire incident... that means that you... you were..."

"The air is getting annoying again..." Evangeline hissed.

"Ah!" Shichimi bounced up. Looking at the globe Evangeline produced, the cat thing was shocked to see an image of Negi dashing though a desolate world following the tail of... "Negi-sensei is teaming up with the chupacabra, mya!" ("I'M A _HEDGEHOG_!")

All shocking revelations about Evangeline were completely forgotten. "What?!" The team had gathered in front of the orb, eyes intent on seeing their teacher and savior as well as the strange blue creature that had evaded them in the past.

"Don't. Crowd. Me." The vampire girl hissed, starting to nearly glow with power. Everyone made damn well sure to heed those commands. "Chachamaru. Fix tea for us, please."

"Yes, Master," The robot bowed swiftly, not surprised at Eva's subtle inclusion of manners, and set off to make that confectionery.

--

"Catch this," A shining Keyblade tore through the endless shadows. The beings of darkness stood no chance against the almighty weapon of light. The Keyblade circled back to its owner, gleaming easily in the darkness.

In this new and strange area within the dark dimension, our heroes had come face to face with a serious Himeko once again, armor form intact. She held onto the green Chaos Emerald tightly. "Ah, Negi-sensei's finally here," a small, un-Himeko-like smile was on her face. "I was wondering what happened. Sheesh, and even now all my stomach can think about is meat buns..." There, THAT was a bit closer to the Himeko they knew.

"Himeko-san... are you okay?" Negi asked.

"Yeah," She answered simply. "One has to be serious, being trapped in this darkness—OH CRAP!" A sudden, vicious attack from nowhere surrounded the team and ripped them to shreds with a single crunch.

Or would have, if Sonic wasn't quick on the draw. "I DON'T THINK SO! SONIC WIND!" Before the jaws of the random creature of darkness could clench down on our heroes, Sonic's wind attack stopped it cold. The near-shapeless darkness reared back, but now a visible weak point made itself known. Sonic smirked. With the speed he was known for, he curled himself into a ball of spiky death, homed in on the red spot and smashed it for massive damage. Giant enemy crab or no, the darkness didn't stand a chance. Screeching painfully, it melted into nothingness. "HA! Beat that!"

"Gladly!" A voice rang out.

The darkness itself wasn't finished. Smaller, nastier creatures began to pour out, their beady red eyes and darkness-formed teeth seeking our their potential victims. Negi acted first. Twirling his staff, he hissed, "Ras tel ma scir magister..."

"Don't bother," Mighty lasers reduced the creatures to nothing before they even had a chance to look menacing, let alone menace out heroes. The blue rays of death (sorry guys, not from Sony) flickered out. Negi and company looked up to see Rei perched somewhere in an upper corner, a clever grin plastered on her face. She held... wait for it... the violet Chaos Emerald! "Finally got my armor card!"

"You sound like I was holding back on you!" Chao walked forward, a smile of her own.

The Chinese girl landed next to her counterpart. "How do I know you weren't?"

"You'll have to take my word for it!" Chao returned. They high-fived.

"Huh? Lingshen-san? You mean Rei-san is..." Negi began.

"Of course!" Rei boasted. "_Partner_. As in pactioed."

"Geez... I really need to figure out who knows about magic in my class." Negi sighed.

"So that's how you kept tabs on us," Asuna put two and two together for once. "Man, and I thought there was no end to the secrets in this class..."

"Let's keep moving, please," Chao found herself repeating. However, as the heroes prepared to move further, she suddenly said, "Negi-sensei, you'd be surprised at the politics of this place."

"Would I?" Negi raised an eyebrow, the question sounding more like a statement.

"Enough about that, we got company!" Sonic pointed backwards. Sure enough, there were several more shadow like creatures crawling from the depths. "And we don't have time to deal with them!"

"Oi, we're getting out of here!" Asuna said, sprinting forward before the blue hedgehog got wiser and sped ahead. "Negi!"

"Got it..." Negi jumped on his staff and flew behind the others.

Up ahead loomed a massive stained glass window, and little elsewhere to run.

"Looks like we need to break through!" Rei shouted.

"Awright, let's do this!" Asuna and Sonic sneered in unison and pulled off a flying leap, crashing into the window with all their might. It shattered, the glass tinkling like a surreal nightmare. All the heroes sailed out and landed on what was apparently soft ground... except for Himeko, who once again crashed into the ground head first. Ouch and ouch _again_.

As they recovered, they now saw that this loopy dimension had dumped the ever-growing team into what looked like a vast snowfield at night, darkness covering the sky and the "snow" keeping a more dream-like tone on the ground. The power creating and distorting this dimension was getting ever so stronger, and Negi felt that they were getting closer. Well, if the giant, swirling hole in the "sky" was any indication...

In the middle of the field, however, stood a familiar face. Rebecca Miyamoto stood there, gazing at the large, gaping hole.

"Becky!" Negi called out.

She turned around slowly. However, once she saw who it was, she wasted no time in tearing straight towards him. "NEGI!" She eclipsed the poor boy in a tight bear hug. "It's really really really really really really really really really scary in here!"

"BIG BRO!" Kamo reappeared, having randomly hid in Becky's clothes after the attack.

"Kamo-kun!" Negi smiled, reunited with his familiar.

"Big bro, that darkness is where all this dimensional changing chaos is coming from! If we want to stop it we need to get in there!" The ermine pointed out.

"I see..." Negi said. "Sonic-san? Lingshen-san? Any ideas on how to get up there?"

"Seven Chaos Emeralds should do the trick. But we've only got six..." Sonic answered, looking around the group. "Hey Miyamoto. You do have a chaos Emerald, right?"

Becky pulled out her evil genius grin and held out the Yellow Chaos Emerald. "All sorts of nasties live out here... I protected myself using this!"

"Six Chaos Emeralds..." Negi said, thinking out loud.

"So where's the last one?" Asuna asked.

"SONIC! NEGI-SENSEI!" A voice yelled.

The two turned their attention, but saw nothing at first. "Huh?" Sonic blinked. But something appeared in the distance, and his sharp eyes caught it. "Huh... that's Misora?"

"And she's... what's that giant thing behind her?" Negi squinted to see what Misora was running from.

"I GOT A CHAOS EMERALD!" The girl shouted, sprinting away from—

"HOLY CRAP, A GIANT FREAKING TORNADO?!" Asuna pointed at the colossal wind tunnel giving chase to the runner girl.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" Misora yelled, pumping her legs as fast as she could. "JUST TAKE THIS CHAOS EMERALD AND RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" When she dashed past them, she tossed the pale blue Chaos Emerald towards the team. With lightning quick speed, Sonic snatched it out of the sky.

"Misora!" Sonic shouted. He took off after her, and Negi mounted his magic stick to aid in the pursuit.

Sometimes even Sonic's speed can't save the day—but this is only because someone is faster on the draw and has a more badass way of doing it. "Shinmeiryuu Secret Technique..." A flap of wings, and a mysterious shape tore towards the menacing tornado. "ZANKUUSEN!" The power of the air-cutting blade stopped the tornado cold as Setsuna Sakurazaki reappeared, still in demon form. The tornado ceased to exist, and Misora found she could FINALLY STOP!

"Whew!" Misora crashed into the ground, tired. "I've got nothing more to contribute, sadly. Mind if I go home now?"

"Maybe," Chao gave Misora a predatory stare.

"Don't worry about it!" Sonic dismissed any sort of potential conflict. "Leave it to us!"

"Negi-kun!" And the last person swamped by the darkness finally makes her appearance. Konoka ran onto the scene, coming to a stop next to a now tired Setsuna. "Ah, so you do have them."

"Konoka-san? What do you mean?"

"The seven Chaos Emeralds of course," Konoka smiled her usual smile. She looked at the ragtag band of heroes. "My, you all look a bit beat up. Allow me to help you!" She focused her powers, although slightly shaky, she managed to gather her strength. "Animadverto lucis..." White symbols appeared below the traveling group. "**O Spirits, hear my call. Return our bodies to the light, which gave us warmth, and heal all pain.** Sataaaa andagi!" Her power was refreshing, as all of our heroes felt their wounds disappear... a fresh feeling after all. Like a coffee cup in the morning. Yeah, totally amazing.

"Thank you, Konoka-san," Negi bowed. However, he immediately gained a stern face. "Konoka-san, we need to talk about your powers. Come see me when this is all done."

"Okay!" Konoka smiled, strangely compliant.

Negi wasn't sure whether or not to be taken aback by this, but that interruption disappeared.

"Big bro," Kamo gained a serious face. "Let's move on, the Egg Jerk is waiting for us!"

"Ha, let's show Eggman who we are!" Sonic boasted, thumping his chest. "I've been itching to go all out for some time now!"

"Alas..." Konoka stopped the pep talk. "Secchan and I can't go on any further. We're kinda like Kasuga-san... all worn out."

Setsuna dropped back to her human form. "Negi-sensei, we trust your abilities, as well as all of you," She took Konoka's hand. "We'll take Kasuga-san back home."

"You guys take care!" Sonic said.

"Best of luck."

"Oh, I think we'll need it," Asuna said, staring down the imposing hole, leading to the dark villain's lair (tm).

--

They stood before the vast expanse of all creation, a dimension that seemed to be the birthplace of primordial darkness. The sky... no, the space around them was littered with stars, and giant gaseous pillars known as Pillars of Creation floated about, with some of that same matter floating about below them... it was almost like it had formed an arena.

Negi Springfield and his party of seven stood at one end, faces determined. Seven Chaos Emeralds hovered around him, Becky, and Sonic. Everyone else was decked in armor form—Asuna and her mighty sword, Himeko and her Keyblade, and Rei and Chao were wearing similar futuristic suits, much like Chinese maids of the future.

"Welcome, Negi Springfield! Rebecca Miyamoto! SONIC! You and you simple entourage hope to challenge me as I gain the completely BROKEN power to rewrite the universe!" Dr. Robotnik's voice echoed through the endless dimension, reaching their ears perfectly. "It's almost laughable! Wait, hold that thought; IT IS! WOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!"

"Congratulations Eggman! You finally gained credibility as a villain again!" Sonic smirked. "This only took you... what. One hundred tries?"

"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" Dr. Robotnik boomed. "You know what else makes me angry! The last episode was MINE! I introduced it! And guess what... I WASN'T IN IT AT ALL! _Do you know how annoying that is?!_ That damn swan boy took all the credit! But Sonic, I've stumbled upon something oh so big! The swan boy doesn't even understand the properties of his own dimension! A _dream world_ that can be shaped according to the will of whomever resides in it! Oh, Sonic! You don't know the scope of how big!" The mad doctor finally appeared. However, he stood atop what appeared to be a massive silvery white alien creature, perhaps similar to an alien horse. Its fore and hind legs looked more akin to giant, slender fingers. Around its body was a strange yellow circle that looked like an elaborate fence. Its head resembled a helmet, from which a green face and red eyes regarded our heroes. Its tail swished dangerously, in contrast to the strange billowing protrusion from the back of its head. "Within these walls and my latest and greatest creation, I can expand my rule infinitely! Meet the true god of creations, the Egg Arceus!"

"How about I kick your 'Arceus' instead," Negi snarled.

"You get _zero_ points," Rei muttered at Negi's horrible pun.

"Don't expect any mercy!" Eggman bellowed as the creature gave a chilling alien roar. "I'll send you all into oblivion!"

"DON'T COUNT ON IT, EGGMAN!" Sonic countered, letting the power of the Chaos Emeralds flare. The seven gems swirled around Sonic, Negi, and Becky, granting them their power. The power climaxed—no, flared at its peak, enveloping our heroes in white light. When all was said and done, the light died down, revealing that the three of them had achieved Super Saiyan.

Wait a second, that's not right... Aiyah, DON'T SUE, DON'T SUE!

In any case, they now held power—and lots of it. Sonic himself was no longer blue, but rather golden, with green eyes now red. The energy shimmered from him as he clenched his fists. Negi's normal clothes were now purest white, with the irises in his eyes almost completely absent. His staff radiated power just like Sonic's body.

Becky, however, had the most ethereal transformation of them all. Vague white wings sprouted from her back, her blond hair glowed a golden color, and her lab coat took on a more holy presence. "We're AWESOME now, let's see you stop us!" Becky challenged the mad doctor.

"Cooooollll..." Asuna marveled.

"I'm impressed," Rei added.

"What she said," Himeko added, her Keyblade ready.

"ENOUGH OF THIS CONGRATULATORY CRAP, LET'S GET TO THE PART WHERE I UTTERLY DESTROY YOU!" Eggman roared, and the creature answered this by letting out a fierce alien howl. That howl summoned massive meteors, and the group of seven scattered to avoid being smashed for massive damage.

"That's not even fair! You interrupted my line!" Chao pouted, hovering in the air. From around her she summoned what almost looked like a wall of knives, each one electrically charged. She shoved a hand forward, and waves upon waves of those knives tore at the creature, but to no avail. The creature emerged unscathed from the assault.

"You'll have to do better than that," Eggman taunted, and the Egg Arceus leered hard at Chao. A fierce beam of wind shot towards the girl, who dodged swiftly despite shrieking.

Chao fled backwards as Asuna ran forward, swinging the sword like a madwoman. "TERRIIAAAA!" Asuna slammed the pointy end of her sword against the creature, her one and only battle strategy, The mighty blade clanged against the creature, but it only seemed to whittle away its insane health. The creature stamped its pointed feet, forcing Asuna to defend against the almighty attack.

"TRY THIS FOR SIZE!" Super Sonic sailed in, colliding with the creature right in the face. The pure force almost made it bounce back from Sonic's attack—only for it to recover instantly. A second later, it was in his face, smacking him away like a pinball. Sonic only sailed for twenty feet before spinning in the air and stopping his trajectory. "Huh, a bit tougher than I thought!"

"Try this for size!" Negi swooped in, speeding towards the creature. "TEL MA... AMORIS!" Negi let loose a stream of rapid-fire light blasts. Unfortunately it only served to annoy the creature. It pounced after him, howling towards the "sky" and summoning meteors to drive everyone else away. "Rei-san!"

"Already here!" Rei focused her powers. She shoved a hand back before unleashing a power "laser" that blew up right in the "face" of the Egg "Arceus". That Austin Powers reference went nowhere, so the attack did pretty much nothing...

...except make the perfect set up for Becky's oncoming attack. Becky flew in, twirled, and slammed down right in front of the creature, leaving massive explosions in her wake. Apparently her catalysts were so fast as to activate by pure thought. Becky rose and sneered. "How did ya like that?!"

"Not bad, brats!" Eggman returned that sneer tenfold. "Not bad at all! But let me show you something... let me show you ALL something! THOUSAND HANDS OF GOD!" It was like some sort of 4chan nightmare. One moment there was no hands. Then there were hundreds of hands all around them, smashing them about, negating their attacks.

That all ended when Himeko pressed the Triangle Button.

With a flawless reaction command, Himeko was quite literally in a thousand places at once, smashing the hands away into oblivion with one clean shot for each. Himeko landed, having successfully negated the fearsome attack. "Reaction commands... totally broken..." The fool's hair girl panted between breaths.

The Egg Arceus straightened itself. There was a small moment of silence as neither it nor the Seven Warriors of the Chaos Emeralds (tm) dared moved. The air hung tense.

"LET'S DO IT AGAIN!" Robotnik bellowed. The creature howled to the moon, this time random lasers shot from the sky, knocking away the super forms.

Chao and Asuna rushed him this time, charging and screaming like she-warriors. Chao unleashed a curtain fire of knives, and Asuna performed a vicious combo.

The battle a fierce one. It raged for some time, mainly because all parties involved had such massive stats and hit points, or maybe because the battle was too epic for it to conclude so quickly. Wow, it was getting worse than the fight with Konoka and Setsuna.

"Dammit, why does this bastard have so much HP?!" Rei complained.

"Because I'm the REAL FINAL BOSS! Don't you clowns know any better?!" The mad doctor proclaimed.

"_Besides _that point!"

"I'm not in the mood to care," Asuna snarled. "I'm just going to beat him down!" She swung her sword mightily, clashing with the creature once again.

Without warning, Himeko smirked. "I've got a better idea." She stepped towards the Egg Arceus, bravery and serious mode turned on maximum. That was, until she opened her mouth. "Hey Dr. Eggman!" Himeko bellowed. "(INSULT)!"

"(RETORT)!" Dr. Eggman shot back.

"(COUNTER RETORT)!" Sonic smirked, dodging the wild arms of Egg Arceus.

"(QUESTIONING OF SEXUAL PREFERENCE)!" Chao smirked, feeling some internet meme coming on.

"(SUGGESTION TO SHUT THE HELL UP)!" Becky bellowed, not believing that they were trading idiotic insults in a middle of an intense fight.

"(NOTATION THAT YOU CREATE A VACUUM)!" Himeko continued to jibe at the mad doctor.

"(RIPOSTE)!" Dr. Eggman shouted. The Egg Arceus scored a glancing blow on the loudmouthed girl, sending her sprawling away. The powerful godlike robot added a fierce psychic blow, but Super Sonic stepped in and took the blast instead, also being sent far away. "(ADD ON RIPOSTE)!"

"(SHOUT OF CONCERN)!" Becky looked on worriedly.

"(COUNTER RIPOSTE)!" Negi snarled. Flying towards the creature, he began to chant. "(UNLOCK MAGIC, SUPER POWERED SPELL, FIRE COMMAND)!" Fierce blades of light crashed into the robot, forcing it to gallop backwards so it could regain control. The creature "howled" once more, summoning meteors. Negi and Sonic weaved between the crashing rocks, picking up the slower fighters out of harm's way.

"(COUNTER-COUNTER RIPOSTE)!" Dr. Eggman guffawed, as the Egg Arceus kept everyone on the move and away from the creature itself.

"(NONSENSICAL STATEMENT ABOUT PLANKTON)!" Himeko, still woozy from her beating, blurted out.

"(VOW TO GET REVENGE ON SPONGEBOB)!" The person who said this was shot.

"(RESPONSE TO RANDOM STATEMENT(S) AND THREAT TO BAN OPPOSING SIDES)!" It appeared that someone else had arrived to crash the party. Appearing at the other side of the area was Cygnus, his neon-orange eyes glaring at the mighty creation of Eggman. Behind him stood two females, one Rokugou and the other a girl unfamiliar to Negi, although he could read her obvious fire affinity.

"(SHOUT OF INCREDULITY)!" Dr. Eggman pointed, open-mouthed, at Cygnus.

"(QUESTION ON HOW THE HELL DID HE GET HERE)?!" Asuna was also shocked, considering the state they sent him home in. Apparently he found his way back.

"(WORDS OF PRAISE FOR FISHFOOD)!" Himeko continued her pseudo-drunken drivel.

"(ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS)," Cygnus wore a devious smirk, the strange red girl beside him wore a more bored one. "You know Eggturds, I'm tired of you _jacking_ with my _shit_. And Negi Springfield and pals, you've already served your purpose." Darkness flared in his right hand. "This dimension was built with _my_ darkness, so I'm kicking _all of you OUT_!"

"Hey!" Sonic complained. "At least let us use our awesome Ultimate Teamwork Finisher Move Pulled Out of Our Asses(tm) before you kick us out!"

Cygnus thought about this for a moment. "Fine, but this battle's dragged on long enough." Cygnus dramatically tossed his hand back. "Let's GET ON WITH IT!" Huh wait a second! You're not talking to me for once?

"ALL RIGHT!" Sonic cheered. "NEGI!"

Negi returned his smirk. He then looked in Becky's direction. "Becky!"

Becky shared a round of Hero's Smirk (tm).

"Aww, no fun for us!" Chao pouted.

"Huh? What's this about?!" Asuna looked around, confused.

"Just watch!" Rei dragged her out of the way, standing somewhere safe (read: all of them gathered around Rokugou.).

The three super forms, Cygnus, and the fiery girl positioned themselves around the Egg Arceus.

"What?!" The doctor did NOT like where this was going. "You can't do this! I won't allow it!" He shouted another command. "THOUSAND HANDS OF—" -SMACK- A stray Keyblade knocked him on his back, and the creature heard no command. Himeko giggled as she ran for the safety zone around Rokugou.

With nothing to stop them, the good guys began their final attack.

"Ras tel, ma scir... magister..." Negi began, waving his arms and drawing in energy provided by Sonic.

"**Expel all things that don't belong in darkness...**" Becky chanted.

"All evil shall _answer_ to _nothingness_!" Cygnus bellowed. He and the phoenix woman added their own power to Negi's magic cooking pot.

"Dance in the flames of hell!" the woman cackled. She let her fire powers flare at maximum strength.

"OBLIVION." They both finished. A mighty flare of darkness and fire opened right below the Egg Arceus, the mass of energy beginning to burn the creature down to nothing.

Now was the time! With all that energy amassed under him, it was time to send the Eggman packing. Negi twirled his staff and plunged it down in mid-air. "TEL MA... AMORIS!" The command executed.

Nearly the whole dimension imploded on that spot.

"NO!" Eggman bellowed. "NO!" His machine was being ripped apart at the seams, as the closing dimension crushed his machine to nothing and threatened to toss him back into his world. "CURSE YOU CYGNUS! CURSE YOU REBECCA MIYAMOTO! CURSE YOU SONIC!" The power was eating the creature completely, crushing it into nothingness. As Eggman slipped out of the dimension, he had just one last thing to say. "_CURSE YOU NEGI SPRINGFIIIEEEELLLLDDDD_!"

The Egg Arceus was no more, and Eggman had effectively been banished from this dimension.

Things weren't all good news and happy happy joy joy for our heroes, however. When Cygnus said he was kicking everyone out, he meant he was kicking _everyone_ out. With the exception of the fiery phoenix woman, everyone else was being drawn to their own warp hole, unable to resist or escape. "UWWAAAAHHH!!" The darkness drew them in, swirling wildly. Most everyone had already disappeared into their own dimension by now, with the small exception of a few people.

"Cygnus... what's the meaning of this?!" Negi strained against the mighty pull of dimensional tide.

"Cygnus-kun!" Rokugou whimpered.

The Devil's Swan walked over to the girl, genuine sadness on his face. "Yeah, the old adage says it best: this is goodbye." He knelt down to her. "I have a bit of soul-searching to do on my own. Who knows how long it'll take me to find your dimension again... but..."

The girl's eyes were watery. "Cygnus-kun... I won't forget!"

Cygnus answered that with mirthless laughter. "You sound so strong with that! If you so believe it..." Cygnus knelt close. "Maybe within your heart, your memories will stay pure."

In an unusual move, Rokugou pecked him on the lips.

The red-faced couple gasped before Cygnus backed away. "Ah...!?" The boy said. "..." He held a finger to his lips. "Maybe that will do as a memory too." He went back to her. She grabbed his hand, and he hers. "But don't worry. Maybe one day, I'll find you again, even if you _don't_ remember me." He let go, and she sailed into the abyss and back to her home dimension. "Farewell."

"Rokugou-san!" Negi complained. "You shouldn't—" The phoenix girl tapped him on the face with her foot, causing him to lose his grip and go sailing down. "UUUWWWAAAHHH!" He screamed. However, gaining his bearings just enough, Negi shouted above to the dark boy, "CYGNUS-SAN! I'LL BE READY FOR YOU TOO! FOR HER SAKE AS WELL!"

Cygnus grinned at that. "Ahahahahaha! _Well now, Negi Springfield_! Show me how much of a man you've become, next time we meet!" Those words rang in Negi's ears as he disappeared. With the dimensions set right again, the remaining two found themselves staring at Silenc—err I mean in silence. Cygnus stared a bit, feeling a few tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Tch, how emo..."

A sudden rumble shook him out of his sad reverie.

"This dimension... it's gonna collapse!" The phoenix girl said. "We need to get back!"

"In that case..." Cygnus turned towards a now collapsing exit. "CUE METROID ESCAPE SEQUENCE! Let's GO! Uhh..." Cygnus suddenly remembered he forgot something, as ironic as that was. "What's your name again?"

The girl face-faulted. "Geez. I'm Fujiwara no Mokou!" The woman sprinted alongside him as he made a break for the exit, narrowly escaping being crushed by a random collapsing dimension. "_Don't you forget it_!"

--

Elsewhere, everyone had seen Negi's victory.

"HOORAY! NEGI-SENSEI WON!" was the general consensus of everyone there. Indeed, the darkness was leaving Library Island, and everything was going back to normal despite the entire thing happening overnight. But the victory of saving the whole world was much too strong to be hampered by something so trivial as a need for sleep!

"Negi-sensei," Nodoka's eyes shined happily.

"I can't believe it..." Evangeline said, her face stunned as she dismissed the orb they had used to watch Negi's progress. "He actually won. The boy's truly getting stronger." She smiled again. "Just like that bastard..."

--

The maddening swirls stopped as Negi found himself landing gently somewhere familiar. The rolling hills and beautiful palm trees greeted him as he found himself once again at Green Hill Zone, only this time under morning light.

Just across from him was Sonic, still holding his super form, his trademark smirk still plastered on his face. "So I take it this is our victory?"

"Yeah!" Negi cheered. However, a new thought struck him. Seeing as the bad guys had been thrashed and everyone was returning home, this meant that everyone had to say goodbye... "But this means goodbye, doesn't it...?" He looked around, however, and saw that no one else was with him.

Sonic answered the unasked question first. "Everyone else is back at their home dimension. You showed up here for some reason. That means you have to get going before those portals disappear on ya!" Negi panicked, quickly trying to find an exit. "Hey, don't worry, it's right behind you. Plus I can keep it open until you're safe on the other side." Negi sighed.

"It was kinda fun, chasing you around and going on adventures on your planet." Negi said. "But I heard something from Cygnus-san... he said that memories made across dimensions grow weaker much faster... is that true?"

"Who knows?" Sonic shrugged. "But, even if it is true," Sonic produced a card. He tossed it to Negi, who swiped it in one hand. "Hey Negi, listen up. I can tell that your adventures are far from over, even if they're no longer in my dimension. You can use that card..." Negi glanced at the card. It looked similar to a pactio card, only it had a dark blue edge, and the top edge was strangely serrated. A manly, badass picture of Sonic stared back at Negi. Hell, Negi felt more manly just holding the card. "...and I'll lend a helping hand. How's that for a parting gift?"

"I like it," Negi held the card close, allowing it's manliness to permeate his soul and make him stronger, faster, better, and— "GET ON WITH IT!" Drat. "I'll be sure to remember everything!"

"I won't stop ya!" Sonic flew up a bit, as if ready to take off. "Go on, head back! You've got friends waiting for ya!"

"Thank you, Sonic-san! Goodbye! Thanks for everything!" He shouted. Both heroes parted ways, heading back home. Ah, it feels so good when things work out in the end, eh?

-&?!-

(Well kids, it's nearly over! Act I of this crazy chaotic story soon reaches an end. The last parts will be coming up soon. For those who also read When Light Descends to Madness, I'll have to apologize on both my and Seraph's behalf. Things are hectic on his end, and I'm having difficulty approaching it... but ONE DAY! IT WILL RETURN! Until then, enjoy this show.

EDIT: MY LINE BREAKS, FF. WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!)

(Random comment about going over 2 minutes and how the noodles will get soggy.)


	13. I WROTE THIS SCHEME by the author

**Scheme!? Final Mix  
**

**Epilogue: I WROTE THIS SCHEME by the Author**

So the end of this tale came to pass.

Even as I wonder just why all of these events have occurred, there was little I could vary. What I have told in these words on the interwebs has been the tale as it had happened in legends, no deviations whatsoever. I swear upon my— "GET ON WITH IT!" Geez, you're all an impatient lot.

Negi's team stepped into Evangeline's cottage after arriving back from their world. Of course, they were met with many cheers and hugs.

"Negi-sensei!" Nodoka cried happily, leading the brigade of girls that showered him with hugs.

"Becky!" Of course, the other child teacher was not left out of the praise. Kurumi hugged her as well, and all the students swarmed her with equal fervor as Negi. "You saved the whole universe!"

"What are we, chopped liver?!" Misora complained.

"Aw come on, let the Negi brigade have some fun," Chao pulled her back.

Hell, even Eva had some congratulatory laughter to offer to the boy. "Not bad, not bad! Just as I imagined, you work well with Miyamoto. Chao was right in calling her here."

"Riiiiight?"

"But I bet all of your are tired, yes? Staying up all night to keep hope in the fate of the universe and all that good stuff." She noted with amusement that indeed, everyone that wasn't Chachamaru or Chao appeared fairly tired and weak. "Too bad for you, it's seven in the morning, two hours away from classes..." She took a last sip of some warm and likely caffeine-ridden beverage. "...and I am fresh out of coffee." There were suddenly very dangerous looks in her direction. "Don't even think about it. Even in my current state I could tear all of you apart.

Luckily, Takamichi appeared, averting potential disaster! "Hey guys. I heard you were up all night, saving the world. The dean wanted you guys to have this tea." He presented a prepared tea set. The mere fragrance of the stuff seemed to revitalized the tired students' spirits. "It'll help keep you awake... just for today. You'll be responsible for your own sleep after that."The students swarmed him for the tea. Evangeline merely harrumphed from her ruined moment of superiority.

--

Another week of studying and general nonsense passed, and with it, a second test from the brutal Nitta-sensei arrived at its end. To everyone's slight but pleasant surprise, Negi's class did much better this time around. As a matter of fact, nobody failed. _Not even Asuna._ The man was so suspicious he challenged the dean of all people with the scores. However when presented with the truth, it was said even the cruel Nitta-sensei shed manly tears of happiness.

And there was much partying that night. And it was good.

--

"Negi-kun?" Konoka peeked in his office. "You wanted to see me?"

The office was largely silent, minus Negi's scribbling various notes. Nobody but the two of them were there. "Thank you, Konoka-san. To tell you the truth I'm somewhat curious... you acted largely on your own during those last attacks from Cygnus. And that power... are you...?"

"Yep, Negi-kun! Secchan was hired to protect me because I'm the heir to a powerful line of healing magic, ya know." Konoka smiled. "Supposedly I'm the descendant of the legendary Fujiwara Clan! Normally my father wanted me to live an ordinary life before I went into magic, but after those incidents with Secchan... I couldn't be oblivious anymore."

"If you're that powerful, then won't the magic associations start worrying? Especially with you moving about on your own."

"Why should they care? I'm still here, right?"

"Konoka-san," Negi said, as sternly as he could while adjusting his glasses. "You can't afford to be reckless, especially since you are still inexperienced with your powers!" He groped for words for a bit before finally thinking of something that would appeal to her logic. "Think about how much work that would be for Setsuna-san!"

"But Negi-kun... that's why I want to be my own mage now," Konoka said sadly. "I want to protect Secchan too... she can only do so much on her own, and I can only do so much under you. I admit I'm just a little bit selfish when I say that I fear for my sanity should anything happen to Secchan. So please..."

"I see," Negi said seriously. "...if that's the case, I can't blame you. However, we're going to need to start training, so you can master those powers of yours. And you need to talk to the dean about this too! You powers can weaken your body severely if you use them wrong!" He finished chiding.

Konoka beamed. "Okay! When do we start?"

"As soon as I finish some English assignments. You better study for that test coming up..."

--

But alas, all good things come to an end. After a good month under the walls of Mahora, Becky concluded it was time to return back to Peach Moon Institute.

"It's been nice, but alas I gotta go back, make sure the rest of those losers haven't killed themselves and all that. So long, farwell, et cetera et cetera..." Becky waved to the class in a nonchalant manner.

"We're gonna miss you, Miyamoto-san!" was the general greeting. "And the rest of your class, too!"

"Rokugou-san!" Nodoka smiled and held her hands. "I enjoyed your company. Please feel free to visit!"

"Umm... o-okay!" Rokugou smiled nervously in return.

"Take care now, Rokugou-han!" Konoka smiled kindly. Setsuna, on the other hand, simply leered at all the newcomers.

Miyako, however, was stuck in a deep frown, trying to rack her brain over... something.

"What's wrong with you?" Chisame asked.

"There's something that still bothers me... but... I can't figure it out! And now I'm _leaving_. urrrgggghhhhh!" Miyako clawed her scalp.

"Good for you."

"Write back often! You know Negi-sensei's gonna miss you!" Kazumi added slyly.

"You still have to put it in!" Haruna raunchily added. From this point on, for the safety of our possible younger readers, we will have to ignore any further statements from that woman.

And with that, Becky mumbled as she and her entourage left for the supposed bus that would ferry them back into the other side of Tokyo, where Peach Moon resided. Becky ignored the deluge of tears, excited chatting and merely thought inwardly. After all this time... where was Negi?

But of course, life often saves the best for last, because sitting by the bus was the old dean and Negi Springfield himself.

"Hohoho, think you'd be leaving without a word to your partner, did you?" The Dean raised an eyebrow.

Becky stood there, stunned.

Negi smiled demurely and offered a hand. "It was nice working with you, Miyamoto-san... no, Becky."

There was a moment of silence. Then Becky flew in for a fierce hug, shocking... well, everybody. "Negi!" She hugged him tightly. "You better come visit!"

"Okay, okay! I promise," Negi eased from his own shock into a gentle smile.

The dean, through all his years, always had to like young love. "Ah... what it is to be young. But here, remember, young Miyamoto. This bond you share with your students..." He raised a finger towards Becky, one eye open. "...and Negi's students, remember it, and keep it close no matter what. Don't betray it."

Becky, without letting go of Negi, looked at him. "Okay..."

"I knew they looked cute together!" Himeko bellowed, but Rei punched her in the face to keep her from ruining the moment.

"Now's the time for farewell, but don't worry!" Dean Konoe stood up. "You'll see each other again!"

Slowly, Becky let go of Negi. The boy stood back as all of the Peach Moon girls slowly boarded the bus. It was a moment of quiet, perhaps anxiety or sadness, but it was surely quiet. Rei surprisingly broke the silence. "Toodles! Chao and I will keep in touch!"

The bus started up. Hey wait, who's driving?

"I'll be back," Takamichi grinned. "I'll get these girls safely to their homes."

"Bye, Negi!" They all said in unison as the bus began to slowly drive away, although it sped up into furious racecar speeds as it hit the stereotypical setting sun.

Negi stood there in silence with the dean for a little while, just letting everything sink in.

Finally... "Hey Negi-kun," Dean Konoe began.

"Yes?"

"What does 'put it in' refer to?"

Negi crashed. "Not you too!"

This ends Act I of this random and amusing play. But since it is only Act I, what stands in Negi's way next time? Will he ever solve the mystery of the Star Crystal? Will the Bedeviled Swan King Return?

Only time will tell.


	14. Index of Some References

**Scheme!? Final Mix**

**The (Not-So) Comprehensive Reference Guide**

(Plus maybe some stuff for a sequel)

Consider these the TL notes for the story, for those of you less internet/Sonic/Pani Poni Dash savvy. I probably won't net every reference, but if you could tell it was a reference, I'll be certain to note it here. I'll be listing each by category and then chronological order (in the story, duh).

You'll also notice that I didn't use all of the pactio powers for Becky's crew, even though by this note that I've already decided on their pactios. For this, I say the story may be over, but the idea is still very much alive.

**The PPD Crew's Pactios:**

Rebecca Miyamoto (Pactioed with: Negi):

Armor: Alchemist (I've imagined her being highly intelligent in Chemistry and such, thusly magic catalysts seemed to suit her best. Some of her more "magic" powers are activated Fullmetal Alchemist style.)

Cosplay: Cat suit (Inspired by KC Comicker's vision of her pactio)

Suka: Rabbit (For all intents and purposes... Mesousa. LOL)

Himeko Katagiri (Pactioed with: Negi):

Armor: Keyblade/Pink Clothing (Sora's KH2 outfit felt a bit too masculine for Himeko, so I gave her Kairi's outfit instead)

Cosplay: Red Dress/Mega Hammer (Amy, her style from Sonic Adventure 1 onwards.)

Suka: Crab (Himeko's obsession with crabs = irony + jackpot!)

Miyako Uehara (Pactioed with: Negi):

Armor: Pink Dress/Frying Pan/Psychic powers (Paula from the Earthbound series... fits, don't you think? Also note that the whole SSMMMASSSHHHH deal comes from Earthbound as well.)

Cosplay: Red suit/ forehead laser/ mirror manipulation (Paranoia, a boss from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Why? LAZAH. That's why.)

Suka: Ladybug (Random choice, I thought it'd fit when I picked it.)

Suzuki Sayaka (Pactioed with: Cygnus):

Armor: Arrancar suit (Grimmjow, from Bleach. I mean, he's also number 6, am I right?)

Cosplay: Maid (Saw her in a maid suit in art with Media. Very cute. Moe, even.)

Suka: Swan (A fitting mix for being with Cyg. It's cute even.)

Kurumi Momose (Pactioed with: Negi):

Armor: Nico Robin (Surprise! Kurumi's card would allow her to grow multiple flowered arms from anywhere and royally mess things up, just like Nico Robin from One Piece. Even though I didn't use Kurumi's cards this time around... MAYBE...)

Cosplay: Shadow the Hedgehog (awesome idea came to me earlier—black biker suit, skates, focuses on whirlwind kicks and speed. YEEEAAAHHHH-shot-)

Suka: UHHHHH....

Ichijou (Pactioed with: ???):

Armor: Gravity Suit (Metroid, worn by protagonist Samus Aran. All of Ichijou's cards follow the same theme.)

Cosplay: Zero Suit (Metroid, worn by Samus when the suit falls off. Once again, under that theme.)

Suka: Metroid (Namesake. Jellyfish-like creature that sucks energy. I lol'd when I thought of this.)

Rei Tachibana (Pactioed with: Chao Lingshen):

Armor: Chao Bai Zi Suit (Being under the employ of Chao has its quirks, no? Also enhances her cooking abilities)

Cosplay: Dr. Robotnik (Do I even need to tell you why?)

Suka: Basilisk (Not set in stone, but a lizard that has a frill on its face and can walk on water would be an amusing weak form for Rei.)

**PPD References:**

Car sailing through window: Yes, Becky had this same entrance in PPD ep 1.

Cat in the soda machine: Classic cat that claims it's God. Same cat annoys you all in chapters 4 and 6.

**Sonic's World:** Many of the places Negi visits in Sonic's world come from different Sonic games. Ignore the paradox of Stardust Speedway.

Azure Lake: Where Rokugou meets Cyg and the latter defeats Egg Cerberus. Is one of the vs. stages in Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

Amazing Arena: A stage from Knuckles Chaotix. It's quite the setting for Cyg's first challenge against Negi, eh?

Stardust Speedway: Hailed from Sonic CD, my favorite Sonic game. Note that this stage takes place on little planet and not Sonic's planet, thusly the paradox I told you to ignore!

Ocean Base: Eggman's base of operations in this fic. I went for a feel between Sonic Advance 3's Ocean Base and Sonic the Hedgehog's (360) Aquatic Base, because that music is AWESOME.

White Labrynth: Actually Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. I thought despite the watery nightmares it was the coolest stage in the game.

Green Hill Zone: The classic zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog, plus a few other areas Valley of Spikes and the Random Sumo Pig refer to the Game Gear version of Sonic 2, perhaps one of the most brutal Sonic games to date. Note the sunset at the end of the chapter also references Sunset Hill from Sonic Advance 3!

Skeleton Dome: A random reference to Sonic and the Secret Rings. I included this for no other reason than to spice up the scenery, since our heroes had already been at Library Island.

Heart of Darkness/Dark Dimension: The intro to Negi's final assault on Cygnus references the opening movie of Sonic and the Secret Rings. On the other hand, the Dark Dimension where they attack Eggman is a closer reference to Kingdom Hearts, with a feel for Sonic Next's (360) End of the World segment.

Gensokyo: What is this strange place Negi wakes up in the final episode? Strangely enough, Cygnus calls it home, as well as that mysterious phoenix lady, Fujiwara no Mokou. It's not from Sonic's universe, and I don't own it. Perhaps there will be more info later...

**The possessed characters:** Try your might, some of them were a bit vague, so I'll explain them here.

Fang the Sniper/Nack the Weasel: An antangonist from the Sonic series, the one who possessed Mana. He's only shown up in three games released here (Sonic Triple Trouble, Sonic Drift, Sonic the Fighters) though I hear he has a bigger role in the comics.

Blaze: The other protagonist from Sonic Rush. Possessed Setsuna. They seem to share a similar demeanor in my opinion, thusly why I picked her to get possessed by Blaze.

Eggman: LOL true villain of this tale. In recent times he's taken a back seat to other villain in the stretch in most Sonic games. However in this tale he's the real mastermind behind the chaos. Possessed Rei, because they've got a similar streak about them.

Shadow: This hedgehog needs no introduction, Sonic's recent 'clone' and one of the most popular (and hated) to boot. Possessed Kurumi because she'd have the most willpower to least individual thought.

Chaos: The water god, made out to be an antagonist in Sonic Adventure 1, but was merely misunderstood. Possessed Akira because well... it only makes sense because it's Akira. Let's leave it at that.

Mephiles: A powerful demon originated from Sonic Next. He was the other half that led to Cyg's birth, plus the first shadow that attacked and tried to possess Negi.

Sonic: Do I even need to elaborate here? Possessed Misora.

Other characters:

Fujiwara no Mokou: I don't own her, she's the property of shoot-em-up creator ZUN. Indeed she hails from a land called Gensokyo, and thanks to a time warp, Cygnus fought her 1200 years ago. Notice she quotes Axel from Kingdom Hearts 2 ("So you DO remember me!") and quite a bit of her fight references him as well. I considered making Cygnus reference Roxas at this point, but that won't work... Cygnus is no Roxas to Mokou's Axel. Perhaps more on her will be revealed...

Hazuki: Vampire, only reference to Tsukuyomi Moon Phase I could squeeze in. She looks startlingly like Konoka to me (or is it the other way around?), thusly why I had Konoka pick a fight. Konoka and Setsuna's first team match plays out similarly to the sisters fought in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Those Lovely internet references and such:

The NGG references: For full understanding of such references, visit here:

?title=Next-Gen_Gaming

As for what they are, the following are...

OUR THE (UH-OH)

The italicized commercial that began Chapter 5

regular milks

"Are you insinuation...?"

See how many 4chan references you can catch.

Cyg's opening speech in the prologue references several Castlevania titles.

Windia hails from an obscure Cave shooter called deathsmiles. Loved her character design, ran away with it.

--

"So... you heard? That swan incident over at Mahora finally cleared up."

"That's good news, if I do say so myself. However, we're still no closer to solving the stolen Star Crystal incident. What a shame. How are things over there?"

"Becky's finally back! I miss her so much..."

"Fufufufu... are things going to go back to normal now that she's there? Or as normal as things get?"

"That's... I highly doubt it. Somebody's up to something. I can feel it."

"Is that so? What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing... as of yet. I bet they made friends over there in Mahora, yes? They just might come here."

"If you say so. Do keep in touch."

"...you guys are a backup plan, alright?! Don't feel so hurt!"

"As you wish. After all, too many legends in one place would drown reality in a deluge of 'awesome', yes?"

**Legends are Gathering: the Scheme!? Sequel**


End file.
